Tight Pencils

In this episode Kevin was joined by Isabella Rotman. The Two of them recorded Izzy’s interview in the car on the drive to and from the Toronto Comics Arts Festival. We talk about Izzy’s work, what to expect out of a convention like TCAF, and the world of independent comics in general.

Show Links:

CAH – https://cardsagainsthumanity.com/

Danielle Chenette Music – http://djchenette.bandcamp.com/

Danielle Chenette Comics – http://daniellechenette.tumblr.com/

CAKE (actually June 6th and 7th) http://www.cakechicago.com/

Cathy G. Johnson – http://cathyboy.tumblr.com/

Ley Lines – http://leylines.storenvy.com/

Czap Books – http://czapbooks.bigcartel.com/

Sloane – http://sloaneshutup.tumblr.com/

Charles Burns – https://www.fantagraphics.com/artist-bios/artist-bio-charles-burns.html

Eleanor Davis – http://doing-fine.com/

Sex Criminals – https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/sex-criminals

Isabella Rotman – http://thismighthurt.tumblr.com/

This episode we got to chat with killer illustrator Pam Wishbow in her Seattle apartment (via Skype). After a few minutes of getting a little political we got down to talking about Pam’s process and hearing a little bit about how she works and what influences her. Among many other things Pam shared with us that a Kickstarter project that she’s a part of just launched the day of our recording — check out “Where Is Home” on Kickstarter and show your support if you can!

You can find Pam around the internet here:

PamWishbow.com

Pam’s Tumblr

Pam’s Etsy Store

@pamwishbow

Special thanks to Jackbox Games and The Chicago Podcast Coop for making this episode possible

In this episode we took a trip up to the Northwest corner of the city to visit artist and designer Lauren Jordan. Lauren told us about the work she does at Hey Chickadee, her own creative endeavors in the many mediums she creates with, and talks about the Indiegogo campaign for the upcoming release of the Comfort Food Zine, a collection of food-positive illustrations and comics by over 30 artists (definitely check it out and show your support by making a donation to the campagin, here’s the link again: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/comfort-food-zine–2).

The music from the episode is a song by James Roach that he recorded especially for Lauren, but you can find more of his music at hames.bandcamp.com

Where you can find Lauren:

LaurenJordan.net

@loremjay

Laruen’s page on Hey Chickadee

Lauren’s ASMR YouTube Channel

Show notes:

Hey Chickadee

Pusheen the Cat

Jess Fink at Hey Chickadee

Yuko Ota at Hey Chickadee

Emmy C at Hey Chickadee

Lauren’s Tea For Two Earings

Lauren’s Beekeeper’s Necklace

Lauren’s Food Zine

The Comfort Food Zine Indiegogo page

TCAF (Toronto Comic Arts Festival)

VanCAF (Vancouver Comic Arts Festival)

Urban Threads Studio

This was another special episode — we were joined by John Wawrzaszek (aka Johnny Misfit) and Alex Nall, and a group of folks who came out for the monthly Drink and Draw that Alex runs, at ChiPRC (Chicago Publisher’s Resource Center). People drew on a big roll of register tape that Alex brought in while we recorded the episode. We chatted to Johnny about ChiPRC and the many other initiatives he’s a part of, and talked to Alex about his involvement in the project as well as his experience teaching comics to kids. A fun time was had by all! We wanted to apologize for the particularly low quality audio in this week’s episode, but if anyone has so suggestions for live audio recording, please let us know!

You can find the work and info of our guests here:

Johnny Misfit: johnnymisfit.com

Alex Nall: alexnall.tumblr.com, @alexnall0

The music from this episode is Not For Rebecca by Johnny’s band, Kitchen Experiment

Show notes:

ChiPRC

Linda Barry

Jeff Zwirek’s Burning Building Comix

Nate Beaty

Jeffrey Brown

Quimby’s Bookstore

Chicago Zine Fest

Cake (Chicago Alternative Comics Expo)

http://tightpencils.com/ep4

Our February episode features Chicago cartoonist Tony Breed!

In this episode, Kevin and Matt visit Tony’s studio to talk a bit about how he writes his comics. We discuss language, discovering and balancing distinct character voices, and sustaining story arcs in ongoing web comics. We also delve into the world of comic conventions like SPX, CAKE, and TCAF. Big thanks to Tony for giving us a tour of his drawing space and letting us in on his process.

You can find Tony and his work at @tonybreed, tonybreed.tumblr.com, muddlersbeat.com, and hitchedcomic.com.

See you on March 14 for our second live recording with our guests Alex Nall and Johnny Misfit of CHIPRC!

http://tightpencils.com/ep2

A special LIVE EPISODE! That’s right, it’s only our second episode, but we had the chance to check the ‘ol live recording off the podcast bucket list.

Matthew Novak is our guest this time. Former Linework contributor, cartoonist, and songwriter, Matthew talked to us about his approach to autobiographical songwriting and drawing. We discuss getting back to creating after falling off for a bit.

Note: this episode was recorded immediately following a release for Kevin’s new book Old Gum Wrappers and Grocery Lists, featured in the episode photos.

Special thanks to The Nerdologues for hosting us at The Public House Theater in Chicago. Follow the links for more info on the Nerds, as well as more of Matthew’s music.

www.nerdologues.com

www.pubhousetheatre.com

http://mnovak.bandcamp.com

http://tightpencils.com/ep1

The very first (real) episode! We talked with Chicagoland native, cartoonist, and our good friend David Alvarado in Kevin's apartment.

David's work has been featured in New City, The Linework Anthology, and Echo Magazine.

To see David's work visit his website at http://hello-david.com, and to contact him for work or otherwise, email him at [email protected].