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This is a drawing I did recently of an idea I had when I was in Cara Coulson‘s children’s literature class at Durham College: “The Lonely Little Fridge”. Versions in English, Esperanto, and very bad French…
However, I got a great message back from them with some useful advice:
For those who are interested in applying for TCAF in the future, we want to take a moment to provide some context for what our committee considers when selecting applicants for TCAF:
TCAF exhibitors should have a substantial body of comics in print. We are a comics focused show, which means that we try to prioritize exhibitors who have lots of comics for sale.
TCAF exhibitors are encouraged to debut new work at the festival. New comics and new books help make TCAF exciting for patrons, and tend to ensure more successful and profitable shows for exhibitors. It’s great to see applicants who have a solid idea of a new comics project, especially one that has a clear and confident plan for completion.
It’s important to note that these aren’t “the rules” for applying to TCAF, and many other factors are taken into consideration, but we hope this helps with your future TCAF applications.
TCAF
So I’m going to finish “Little Lost Part” as if I were exhibiting it at TCAF, and keep going from there!
A first test of the cover for “Little Lost Lamp”.
What happens when a lamp id shipped to the customer and then forgotten?
This is the short eight-pager I hope to have ready for TCAF in the first week of May (whether or not I take part in TCAF).
Here’s Version 5 of the cover for “Parts: An Industrial Fantasy”. I’m getting closer. And I realized that Gordin and Laisa may have red circuit boards for greater visibility.
I’m still learning more about these watercolours. I am going to layer them more; I’ve been treating them like Photoshop paint-bucket fills or comic-strip colours…
I got an email recently that TCAF, the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, is happening this year… online! The physical version of TCAF has been one of the highlights of my year, but of course recent events have forced changes. After it was cancelled in 2020, TCAF will be online in 2021.
The deadline to apply was Wednesday March the 3rd.
I applied. It’s a long shot, but what the hey.
The book launch party for Nineteen Tales will have door prizes, and as one prize, I’m doing a drawing of a scene from my story. I’m starting with experiments and reminding myself how I draw… important artistic note: the water colour goes on before the india ink…
The next day: test drawings for the door prize. 
One drawing is watercolour and pencil only, the other has india ink added.
This is the same technique I’m going to use for my story Parts.
Continue readingJackie Brown interviews me about my story in the compilation Nineteen Tales of COVID-19.
It came! Nineteen Tales of COVID-19, the compilation I submitted a story to! ? (I changed the pictures when I realized how many crumbs were on the kitchen table… now it’s in front of my computer.)
The compilation was organized by the awesome Jackie Brown of Jackie Brown Books. The writers all have some connection to Durham Region (for example, I grew up in Whitby).
Yes, I also designed the cover and laid the interior out.
This is a listing of various works I have done.
The grade nine sketch. The stories: How Yukon Picket Obtained Salt (grade 10), The Thirteenth Upheaval (grade 11), Virnalian Ranger (comic in co-op newsletter, grade 12 or 13). The Map (detail; grade 10).
First sketchbooks.
Toasterman. Electronic Monsters. (I was the only guy in electronics school with a sketchbook.)
Random sketchbook work. Large drawings as gifts until 1990.
Evelyn’s Story (the World of the Woolly Mountain Incident). I discover Esperanto (for real this time). The Devilbunnies newsgroup and shared fiction. In summer 2000 I go to the Kultura Esperanto Festivalo in Helsinki (music video segment– cut short when I ran out of tape (yes, tape)).
Scaffoldworld (the beginning). Plotting problems extending it. Start learning about story design. Start going to LIFT, the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto, to attend its screenwriting group. French lessons. Japanese lessons (really regret leaving Toronto and quitting these).
The layoff. Go to Bancroft to work on solar-powered houses. Doesn’t work out. Look for work in Sutton. Meet Shawn Shepheard when he led a job search group at Yorkworks. I draw Shawn’s Sugarfree Shawn comic.
Cara Coulson’s children’s literature class. Mary-Rose Thaler’s graphic design class. Linda Cheng’s graphics programming class. The rabbit video. The BUNIX login. French immersion in Jonquière summer 2013. Exploration of Kickstarter.
Sketchbooks and attempts at programming. The ATM Fee Finder. Second attempt at Time Warrior (website, video, and shirt this time). Visits to LIFT.
Parts: An Industrial Fantasy. Meet Jackie and the DRWG. The compilation Nineteen Tales of COVID-19 and the story The Rabbit Hole.
I recently stumbled across a group on Reddit. This particular group is called Writing Prompts, and the topics are story suggestions, meant as practice for writers. People reply with story segments in comments.
I was alerted to one topic by a text announcement on my phone. The topic was:
"People gain superpowers the day after meeting their soulmate. When a hot young celebrity does so the day after a meet-and-greet, they're desperate to find every person who they even just shook hands with that day."
As I got ready for work, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. As I worked on the assembly line, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. At lunch, I read some of the story segments others had posted in response, and I plotted a continuation and thought of all sorts of details.
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