Tight Pencils

Amanda Scurti is a Queens, NY based illustrator and cartoonist.

She has worked as a colorist for Fresh Romance, and We Can Never Go Home. She is currently drawing FABIOLA & YLINI, a YA graphic novel, for Oni Press.

In this episode, Amanda tells us about her experience freelancing as well as working on a team. Also, Kevin clumsily editorializes about art school and the future of illustration.

Find more of Amanda's work on here website: http://www.amandascurti.com/

Follow Amanda on twitter @amandascurti

Follow Kevin on twitter @knittedsweater

Tight Pencils is also on twitter @tight_pencils, but tweets are very infrequent.

Thanks to the Chicago Podcast Cooperative

Music for Tight Pencils by The Past is Another Planet

Carta Monir makes intimate comics about identity and technology. She self-published "Meet n' Fuck," a comic about sex-sim games, in 2016. Her new work, "Secure Connect" will be available soon from 2d cloud.

Carta is also the co-host of We Should Be Friends, a sincere and positive podcast about comics

In this episode Carta reflects on her experiences writing about trans identity, sexuality on the internet, and struggling with the question of whether or not her comics could or should alienate the people they're about.

Carta's website

Carta's books are available from 2d cloud

We Should Be Friends

Oh, hey. It's episode 50.

Meredith Park is a cartoonist and illustrator living in Hamilton, Ontario. Her diary comics capture dream-like sequences of anxiety, love, and depression. She uses impressionistic color to convey moods and feelings that and depth to her fragile words and lines.

In this episode, Kevin and Meredith compare and contrast their philosophies on journal comics

Meredith's website

Rob Kirby is an accomplished cartoonist, and an editor of several anthologies including QU33R (Ignatz winner 2014, best anthology), What's Your Sign, Girl?, and The Shirley Jackson Project.

We talk about Rob's origins in the alternative comics community. Through the culture of queer zines and journal comics, Rob found a place and a voice that marries the two worlds.

Rob's Website

QU33R, available from Northwest Press

What's Your Sign, Girl? and The Shirley Jackson Project, available from Ninth Art Press

Rob's Favorite Comics of 2016 can be found here: http://robkirbycomics.com/RobKirbyComics/Blog/Entries/2016/12/12_Robs_6th_Annual_Top_20_Comics_List__the_2016_Edition.html

Kevin's Favorite Comics of 2016 can be found in this twitter thread: https://twitter.com/knittedsweater/status/808413137934450692

Aatmaja Pandya is the guest! We talk about her work on the visual novel Rose of Winter, as well as her webcomic Travelogue. Also, we discuss webcomics in general, and the way we've learned to tell stories through comics.

Aatmaja's website

Rose of Winter on Steam

Travelogue

Gawain's Girlfriend and the Green Knight by Polly Guo

Connor Brown, author of The Grrls Are All Right - that comic Kevin got at CALA

Mystery Flavor Podcast - Hosted by Kristine Thune and Eric Kubli

Amuse Bouche Podcast - Hosted by Lauren Jordan

All music for Tight Pencils is by The Past is Another Planet

This episode's guest is Kevin Czapiewski, cartoonist and publisher. Kevin's imprint, Czap Books, is one of the growing forces for good in the alternative comics community.

The tone of this episode is a little somber. It's very hard to see good in the world right now, but the only way through it is by surrounding yourselves with people you love and admire.

Czap Books website

Kevin's Website

Kevin is joined by Cartoonist, Editor, and Comics Journalist Whitney Taylor

In this episode we talk about the benefits of picking up other tools, learning from your peers, and imbuing your work with a sense that you care about the subject.

Whit's Website

Subscribe to Tight Pencils on iTunes

Daryl Seitchik's new book Exits just debuted from Koyama Press.

Kevin and Daryl sit down to talk about focusing outward in order to develop their work and the thoughts they direct inward.

Exits on the Koyama website

Daryl's Website

Keiler Roberts is an Ignatz Award winning cartoonist whose autobiographical comics series, Powdered Milk, focuses on her family, her daughter Xia and husband Scott, and her childhood memories.

I talked to Keiler about how she started Powdered Milk, now a 15-volume, seven year series. We discuss comics and mental health, and the way the latter effects our processes.

Keiler Roberts Website

Buy Miseryland on Amazon

Issues of Powdered Milk are available through Spit and Half

Other links:

Tight Pencils on Twitter

Kevin on Twitter

This episode is sponsored by Basecamp

Tight Pencils is a proud member of the Chicago Podcast Cooperative

Kevin and Carolyn talk about The Small Press Expo and The Ignatz Awards (in which they're nominated against eachother!)

Other topics covered in this episode include the vary nature of awards, the romanticized notion of working oneself to death, and the timeless work of Tillie Walden.

Carolyn's recent comic, Diana's Electric Tongue, is included in the second bespoke comics-subscription Short Box - There are a few on sale now.

Carolyn is also a co-host of the wonderful comics roundtable podcast We Should Be Friends

Carolyn's website

Tillie Walden

The 2016 Ignatz nominees

some other links:

Follow Tight Pencils on Soundcloud

Follow Tight Pencils on Twitter

Follow Kevin on Twitter