Brain Power Studio sings for Sick Kids Hospital TO

Hi everyone,

Beth Stevenson's animation studio Brain Power Studio in Newmarket ON (where I freelance part-time) put together an amazing video this year to raise money for Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. Please take the time to check out the video, click and share with folks you know to help raise more $.

Brain Power Studio is one of the co-sponsors of the monthly Ottawa Comic Jam, along with DragonHead Studio. Without the help of Brain Power, it'd be a lot harder to make the Jam happen on a regular basis. Beth Stevenson and crew have always been there for us, so I'm doubly thrilled to be able to promote the video and see if we can get those views/ numbers up to help with their great cause!

Thanks again, and have Merry and safe Holidays.
Cheers!
Suzanne.

24 Hour Comics Day Noble Failure

Photo credit: Troy Little (c) 2011, Summerside PEI.

October 20th was this year's 24 Hour Comics Day. Usually I like to host the event at my place in Kanata (DragonHead Studio), but unfortunately due to renovations, I wasn't able to!

That didn't stop me from jumping into the challenge and tackling it with the ridiculous bravado for which I've become famous. It's been a long while since I've tried a 24 Hour Comic challenge solo, in fact, it's been 11 years. My first one... which has yet to be completed and scanned, was done solo. It was a brutal experience, even 11 years younger. And this October's event was no exception.

I kicked off around 10:30 am. I highly recommend starting in the morning. The one time I gave 'er a go in the evening (2008 I think), was an exhausting and abysmal failure. I only managed to get to 19 pgs that time 'round (yet another comic clamouring to be completed and shared!)

This time I also was missing critical supplies I usually have on hand for such things: jellybeans, icy squares and the horrifying 'drink' known as Rev. Apparently no one in Stittsville drinks Rev (which is the location of the LCBO I tried first).

This time 'round I also decided I would do things differently. Instead of doing a complete page/ hour as Scott McCloud suggests, I was going to tackle the problem by penciling my pages first. That meant I had to crank pages out in 1/2 hr increments. Crazy!

But, my thought went something like this: if I don't finish my inking entirely, at least I'll have all the pencils done. I'll have a complete story told (instead of the several 24 hr comics languishing around that all seem to peter out around pg 19 or so!)

Things trucked on well. I was using the 110 lbs. white card stock that I prefer (the same stuff we use at the Ottawa Comic Jams), penciling with Bic #2 mechanical pencils, ruling out panels (I hate rulers and panels in general, but this time they seemed appropriate). The story rolled out and I hit the 12 hr mark with the entire comic penciled and fairly lucid. I was a bit disappointed that the pacing of the story goes crazy in the last 3-4 pgs ('Oh my God, I'm out of pages!?') Oopsie. Anyway, they do wrap up somehow. And no splash pages!

Splash pages are a cheat when you get behind, doing it the old-fashioned way (case in point, pg 7 from 'The Magic Cauldron', my 24 Hr comic from 2007!). This time I found I needed every single page at my disposal for the story I was telling. It felt satisfying to be able to move through the pages and panels and honestly use every bit of them to the best of my ability (and not feel like I was 'behind' all night!)

Around 4:00 am or so, I was flagging. I had coffee, horrible candies I'd found somewhere (augh!) and my eyes were getting blurry. My inking was going to hell and I was ruining my comic. I was also utterly exhausted and realized that although I firmly believe anyone regardless of age or ability can tackle these things, that I was feeling every one of my sleepy 43 yr-old-bones  yelling at me to GO TO BED.

So I did.

And didn't feel guilty for one minute.

I got up the next day after about 5 hrs of sleep and kept inking for a bit, til the time ran out. I was pleased that I had a comic, pretty much finished, where before there had been absolutely nothing.

I'm a procrastinator, big time. The beauty of the 24 Hr Comic is that;  if you do it, once a year, you will have in your hands, at the end of that period of time: a comic. This means, no matter what happens during the rest of the year, you will have produced at least one physical comic with no delays, procrastination, what-ifs, over-thinking, guilt or apathy. Hurray!

I've been inking the beast on and off all week and I'm happy as a peach. The panels are pretty clean, the lettering isn't wobbly and I'm using templates for my word balloons(!) I hauled my folder to the Ottawa Comic Jam last night to share and had some really supportive and sweet comments on it (thanks Emily!)

Sure, it's a "Noble Failure", since it does not adhere strictly to the Dare's rules. But that's ok. I'm in good company (what with the likes of Neil Gaiman and Kevin Eastman setting the bar!) And I'm proud that I created this thing.

When it's finished, I'll post it over on my Deviantart gallery, which you can get to by clicking here.

Cheers, and thanks for reading my ramblings (as always).
And.
If you haven't tried the 24 Hr Comic challenge yet-- do it! You have nothing to lose (except a bit of sleep). It's worth it and it is an experience unlike any other.

Next year, I WILL be hosting the 24 Hour Comics Day Event at DragonHead Studio. Get your pencils ready!

All the best,
Suzanne.

Motivation

Ever have one of those 6-month stretches? Where you haven't worked on your journal comic? Oops! Special thanks to Lee Kennedy and Jason Bradshaw for helping to re-inspire me to get back at it. I can't promise it'll be daily... but I will try and post more frequently!

Cheers & thnx for reading,
Suzanne.

PS--if you have not heard, it is TRUE DragonHead Studio & the Ottawa Comic Jam are co-hosting this year's 24 Hour Comics Day Event. You have until Sept 28th to register. Come out to the studio Saturday October 1st, 2011 and get drawing! (We start at 10am and will continue for 24 hrs. until Sun Oct 2nd at 10am :-) At least, that is the plan. Feel free to email me at: suzanne(at)brainpowerstudio(dot)com and sign up!

For more information on 24 Hour Comics Day, please head on over to Scott McCloud's site, or to the Official 24 Hour Comics Day site.

World Drawing Day 2009

If you take a couple of minutes (ok 3) and head on over to YouTube, you can see my two posted videos for this year's World Drawing Day event.
This was a lot of fun to do, although at 13,000+ I think the site is still short of its million artists. At this rate, I think we're all going to have to suck it in and draw like..80 drawings each to make up the 1,000,000 they were hoping for! But, it is only 10:30am or so and the day is young.
In other news, I have uploaded artwork for the NEW Ottawa Comix Jam FB site,
so head over there and take a gander. I will be cross posting the artwork to the jam site as well shortly...

Upcoming stuff: The Ottawa Small Press Book Fair at Jack Purcell Community Centre happens June 20th, noon - 5pm and DragonHead Studio will be there..selling comics, promoting the jam, looking cute..harf! Come out and say "hello", but a comic...get a sketch! Not unlike the dragon one posted on YouTube.......!

The NEW Ottawa Comix Jam

Starting this month, something familiar will occur in our Nation's Capital. What? Whaat? The new Ottawa Comix Jam will have its launch this April, at an as of yet undetermined location (TBA soon!).

Drawing inspiration from the successful Montreal, Toronto and NY comic jams, the event will be a monthly occurence, where comic artists gather and draw for a few hours together.

"HOW: Bring a nice piece of paper, divide it up into segments, and start drawing (painting, colouring…). When you have filled one square you pass it to someone else and they fill the next square and pass it on. There are no rules, styles vary, stories unfold, people fall in love, wars break out, the world is knocked off it’s axis, Days of Our Lives is still on television, shit is fun."
Thanks to: Aimée van Drimmelen' Montreal Drink & Draw site

Produced drawings will be scanned and displayed on the Jam's Facebook Group page. There is also a bare bones site for the Jam where people can acquaint themselves with the Jam FAQ, check out the bios of regular contributing artists and find out information not covered elsewhere.

So, throw caution to the wind; come out, come out and share your talent and have fun. Meet some new people, meet some old people and have a drink :-) Then, draw on each other's pages (that's always fun!) I am looking forward to meeting everyone who is interested in re-igniting this sadly missed Ottawa event.

Cheers!
Suzanne.

For more information, contact me via email, FB or txt: 613-323-3377.

Rolling up the sleeves and gettin' 'er done

This is it, man--this is the time, now is the moment.
Friday, October 17th at 8:00pm, DragonHead Studio will transform from its usual organized mess into a razor's edge of creative instensity. We have confirmed artists, we have grub, we have supplies! We're ready!

For your amusement and to get you excited about the upcoming Event, here are some pics from last year's challenge, where much great artwork was produced and new friendships solidified! Just think, this time next year, you could be looking a sweet collection of photos from the upcoming weekend. If you act quickly, your mug might even be profiled! Ya never know...


Speaking of mugs, here's yours truly at Kanata Centrum, picking up Westin Church from the shuttle pick-up point.

The table at the studio in progress, covered in artwork, drinks and supplies. Meaghan Quinn surveys her efforts.

Left to right, Keith Savage, Westin Church, Lynette O'Brien and Meaghan Quinn, sometime in the middle of the night (probably before 2 am or so, since Keith headed off to sleep in his tent around then). Lynette had dropped by to shower us with support around 10pm, but mistakenly went to the wrong house. No one was home! Finally she heard the sounds of cussing and Frank Sinatra and made her way to the corrrect locale of the "do".

Westin catches 40 winks in the company of the world's coolest cat, Arlo, star of many of my comics. Westin's allergy medication was labouring hard to keep him going. With minor setbacks, he was still able to complete the gut-splitting tale of "Harry Hotdog in the Land of Linguini".

Yours truly, showing off the fruits of labour sometime in the wee hours of the morning. You can see by the 1,000-mile stare that the coffee had finally proved useless and the sugar crash had long ago happened. Still, it was a fun excersize!

Keith Savage (OMBRELLA) and Westin Church at Kanata Centrum, heading home after the event. Look how happy they are to escape back home to get some shut-eye! Lucky people!

Now, wouldn't YOU like to see yourself in these pics? You can! There's still a couple of spaces left if you're into it. Just contact me, via email, phone or psychic transmission. Check out the group on Facebook (24 Hour Comic day at DragonHead Studio) for info.

Confirmed 24 Hour comic artists this year include:

Suzanne Marsden:
Hostess, owner of DragonHead Studio, animator, traditional comic artist, writer.
Robert (Guang) Yap:
Animator, traditional comic artist, storyboard artist
Meaghan Quinn:
Web comic artist "Eat the Roses"
Clayton Jacobs:
Traditional comic artist, animation, novelist
Christopher Rudderham:
Web comic artist, "Sailorsun"

Participants confirmed for the 12 hour comic challenge

Keith Savage:
RPG systems inventor, animator, filmmaker, novelist.
James Fletcher:
Teacher, sculptor, member of the National Capital Network of Sculptors, Ottawa.

Check links to their work--this is going to be a phenomenal 24 Hour Comic party!

Plus, you can look forward to seeing it assembled as a documentary by talented filmmaker Randy Kelly!

Cheers, and to those who can't make it-- perhaps next year? It seems like it is becoming an annular event ;-)
Suzanne.

October 17th - 18th 2008 24 Hour Comics Day Party!

If you read too many blogs, you could end up like the people in the above pic. Barring that...read on!

I was talking with Westin the other day; Westin, the dude who is getting married (to fiancée Nadine!)Sept 17th, and for whom I am donning a tux and being the 'Best Ma'am'(just finished writing my speech this morning--yay!).

I said; 'buddy, wish we could get together to draw, but I know you're busy with your wedding coming up and all'. And he said 'Sue--what about next month?'
'Next month?'
'Yeah!'
'Hey I think Nat'l 24 Hour Comics Day is in October sometime... Wanna do it?'
'Sure!'
'What, are we insane?'
'Probably!'
'Still, if I only complete 1 comic a year...'
(SFX swelling of orchestral music)

(And now a cheat-repost from October 2007 [abridged])

With the event [a little over a month] away, folks must be getting excited and stoked for the exhausting, illuminating and one-of-a-kind experience ONLY this kind've gathering can evoke. I know that I am! And it is not too late to take part. Simply contact me with your interest and questions, or sign on to the Facebook group and request to be included on the event list. You will receive maps, and can participate in a carpool or shuttle bus to DragonHead Studio's cozy locale in Urban Kanata.

Ample drawing, painting & comic-creating material will be provided, along with a selection of caffeinated beverages ;-) [NOT coffee-beer though; man that was gross last year :-P] and foods. We do support vegetarians; just let us know your needs. We also have a large collection of animals living with us, so if you need it, prep your system with anti-allergy medication. DragonHead has a secure area if you wish to bring a tent and camp. We also will be providing up to eight places for people to sleep, should they require napping during the event, or cannot complete their comic projects and must sleep.

You have nothin' to lose by giving this a try! You will discover creative depths in your heart you didn't know existed! If you are experiencing artist's or writer's block, this event will kick the hell out of it. You will amaze yourself by what bubbles up in the middle of the night... Go for it!

To get a feel for what others have experienced during previous events, check out YouTube. There are tons of clips showing comic artists and even a couple of interviews with the inventor of the 24 Hour Comic, Scott McCloud!

Contact me via my website, The 24 Hour Comics Day at DragonHead Studio Group on Facebook, or by calling 613-323-3377 and leaving a detailed voice message.

Cheers and all best
Suzanne.

PS -- For detailed information regarding the 24 Hour Comic and what it is exactly, refer to Scott McCloud's web page. Here, he explains what it is, how he came up with it and shows copious pages of completed 24 Hour Comics. Inspiring!

[PPS-- check out 24 Hour comics Day participants from last year's successful event at DragonHead Studio! Westin Church's "Harry Hotdog and the Land of Linguini", and Suzanne Marsden's "The Magic Cauldron!"]

PPPS--NEWSFLASH - Randy Kelly, noted filmmaker, is planning to document the event at DragonHead Studio October 17th - 18th!

The Magic Cauldron online comic!

If you haven't checked it out already, head on over to the Kunstpike Art Flog for links to my 24 Hour Comics Day effort, recently uploaded to the DragonHead Studio site! Wicked :-)))

NEWSFLASH! DragonHead Studio presents Westin Church's fabulous "Harry Hotdog in the Land of Linguini". Check out the delightful adventures of a talking hotdog. Really! From the 24 Hour Comics Day party that brought you "The Magic Cauldron".

Zurg

Ok, my computer is possessed at work by infernal gremlins! That is the only thing I can think of to account for the bizarre behavior of programs that seem to work perfectly fine on my supervisor's computer. Very strange indeed. Hopefully our lovely IT lady can beat some manners into the little so-n'-sos...

Thanks for everyone who showed interest in my pal Leah's furniture. We have sold the EQ3 table! Yay! The gorgeous chair and ottoman are still up for grabs through. And, at an affordable $300.00, you can't go wrong. Solid beech wood (not IKEA) and faux suede make it super comfy and relaxing. You knowww you want it ;-)) Drop me a line and let me know; I'll hook you up!

What else? I have been cobbling a site together for Chiqua Designs! Check it out and be wowed :-) Soon you'll be able to order one-of-a-kind, hand made jewelery pieces directly from Chiqua and be the envy of everyone in your neighbourhood! Trust me, you WILL!

The amazing bracelet shown above is one of Leah's pieces from Chiqua Designs that she made for my birthday last year. It is rose quartz, with a Goddess figure and an antique locket. Lovely, and unique. I've never seen anyone else with anything like it (and it fits!)

What else? Duh... Tuesdays don't seem to be agreeing with me. I spent most of today alseep, wavering from doing tables in Pagemaker for work to checking my Scrabulous tournament results on Facebook. I'm getting my ass handed to me (again) by Mr. Hemming *sigh*, but I gave a good ass-handing-back myself to another dude..so it's good. We'll see. Hopefully the tourney will come to a close before Hasbro rolls the whole thing up on us.

Must head for sleep... will write later when I have more fun things to report.
Go check out Chiqua!
Cheers
Suzanne.

Git your game on!!

I looked at the image above on my Facebook profile and it hit home. There are only THREE DAYS AND EIGHTEEN HOURS left until the exciting 24 Hour Comics Day Event at my place (DragonHead Studio.)

So, email me, join the Facebook Group and request to be added to the Event and come out to enjoy the fun, horrifying, exciting, excruciating challenge. There will be home-made poppycock. Seriously :-)

Suzanne.

613-836-7821
sue.clay@rogers.com

Yes, we're online... and there is still time to sign up!

Nat Gertler sent me a notice regarding the 24 Hour Comics Day Event, stating that the International start time list had been completed. The list includes DragonHead Studio's event, the ONLY host near the Nation's Capital (the next one out is The Artel in Kingston, then Hairy Tarantula West in Toronto!) This comprises 82 Events scheduled in 15 countries, 29 US states and 3 Canadian provinces! Check out the map here :-D

With the event less than two weeks away, folks must be getting excited and stoked for the exhausting, illuminating and one-of-a-kind experience ONLY this kind've gathering can evoke. I know that I am! And it is not too late to take part. Simply contact me with your interest and questions, or sign on to the Facebook group and request to be included on the event list. You will receive maps, and can participate in a carpool or shuttle bus to DragonHead Studio's cozy locale in Urban Kanata.

Ample drawing, painting & comic creating materials will be provided, along with a selection of caffeinated beverages ;-) and foods. We do support vegetarian-friendly food; just let us know your needs. We have a large collection of animals living with us, so prepare your system with anti-allergy medication (if you need it.) DragonHead has a secure area if you wish to bring a tent and camp. We also will be providing up to eight places for people to sleep, should they require napping during the event, or cannot complete their comic projects and must sleep.

You have nothin' to lose by giving this a try! You will discover creative depths in your heart you didn't know existed! If you are experiencing artist's or writer's block, this event will kick the hell out of it. You will amaze yourself by what bubbles up in the middle of the night... Go for it!

To get a feel for what others have experienced during previous events, check out YouTube. There are tons of clips showing comic artists and even a couple of interviews with the inventor of the 24 Hour Comic, Scott McCloud!

Contact me via my website, The 24 Hour Comic Book Day at DragonHead Studio Group on Facebook, or by calling 613-323-3377 and leaving a detailed voice message.

Cheers and all best
Suzanne.

PS--Happy Thanksgiving!
PPS -- For detailed information regarding the 24 Hour Comic and what it is exactly, refer to Scott McCloud's web page. Here he explains what it is, how he came up with it and shows copious pages of completed 24 Hour Comics. Inspiring!
PPPS -- Here's a funny image detailing ways to keep awake while doing the 24 HCD.

Take the plunge

You know you want to.

You've been aching, your fingers vibrating with the creative need to DRAW. But, you've put it off. Your boring job saps all your strength. Or even your moderately not-so-boring job takes up so much of your energy, when you get home (or hell, if you're working from home) you just don't have it in you to.. draw..

Scott McCloud came up with a nifty device over a decade ago (August 31st, 1990), called The Dare. In this Dare, he challenged a compatriot, Steve Bissette, to draw for 24 hours straight, one page an hour, until by the time he was done, this fella would have a complete comic, written, penciled and inked in his hands. That's all it took. From that wonderful, inspired idea, the 24-Hour Comic has spread like fruit flies on a squishy mango, in other words, FAST and with much sucking of tasty, sticky juice! To check out more information on The Dare and to read McCloud's first 24-hour comic, check ze links!

No writer or artist's block can withstand the energy or will that exists in the sweat of someone working on a project for 24 hours straight. Take it from someone who has braved that valley of darkness three times and come out alive... blind, exhausted, hallucinating, but alive! Below, are panels from my first attempts: "Good Medicine/ Bad Medicine", "The Wyrm's Treasure" and "SnowBlonde" (you can read the last two in their entirety on my website, thanks to the continuing web genius of Carol Busato.)

"Good Medicine/ Bad Medicine"

"The Wyrm's Treasure"

"SnowBlonde"


If you're interested in reading more 24-hour comics, you can order them online from Amazon, or via the 24-Hour Comics Day site which has tons of info on the event! You can also order two of Troy Little's 24-hour comics directly from him at Meanwhile Studios ("Smoked Fish" and "Inanimation".)

Come October 20th, 2007, the entire world will host hundreds of mad, creative folks in various locales, drawing maniacally away and creating something from nuthin'! I was interested in joining the fun, but realized it would come very close to overlapping my business trip to Abbey Hill Design in Callander (near North Bay.) I heard that Hairy Tarantula in Toronto was going to host it, but thought the additional drive and then no sleep, then driving HOME would probably kill me. I looked for something closer to Ottawa and realized there was nothing.

NOTHING.

No 24-Hour Comics Day event in ANY Nation's Capital comic book stores to encourage artists to create masterpieces on trestle tables, between multicoloured rows of comics. No fervent prophets of art and story, drawing throngs of the interested public through the doors to bring lucre to the tills. No store was signed up to host. So I thought to myself, "Self," (sfx of Arlo Guthrie talking) "Yup?" "Why dontcha host an event yerself?" "Sounds like a great idea. Then I won't end up in flames somewhere near Belleville on the way home from the stint in TO!" "Sounds like a plan." "AND I would get to see all of my comic and animation buddies whom I haven't seen in a donkey's year." "Is that an African or European donkey?"

And so on.

The 24-Hour Comics Day site has wonderful resources (like this FAQ) for hosting the DAY and I have downloaded lots of 'em. DragonHead Studio is officially on the boards at their site, and the fun starts at noon, October 20th, 2007 at yours truly. There is a Facebook Group set up for it, as well as an "Event" that you can request an invitation to.

As it stands, I have a possibility of 7 people turning up, which looks great! There is room for 5 -7 more, so if you are in the Ottawa/ Kanata area and you're keen to draw and you'd like to play with my animals and sit on my deck sipping Rev or what-have-you, drop me a line!

You know you want to.
That leetle voice you spend all day ignoring and the entire drive home from your job trying to feint left and right as its siren susurrus pleading whisper darts from ear to ear... Listen to it. Next time you're about to crank "Sam's Town", take a minute to really listen to what the Killers are saying; don't just let the sound wash over you.

"...I've got this energy beneath my feet
like something underground's gonna come up and carry me,
I've got this sentimental heart that beats
but I don't really mind that it's starting to get to me now..."

Call, write, email (blackcomet666@yahoo.ca) or sign up on the Facebook Group and pester me. You have 'til October 6th to get your name in! It's going to be fun!

Cheers,
Suzanne.