NOTES FROM SAW
Here’s the place to check out everything that’s been going on at SAW including what we're learning, reading and drawing.
It's Ok to Take 15 Years to Get Good
I’ve been thinking about the ideas of Getting Seen and also Getting Good, and why we tend to worry about doing it in the “right” order. That is, we are so certain we have to be GOOD, BEFORE we are SEEN.
Emotion and Psychology Instead of Symbols
The first mistake everyone makes when writing for comics...
Replay of Making Abstract Comics with Nick Francis Potter!
If you missed our most recent *WE BELIEVE IN COMICS* Friday Night Workshop, catch the replay below! We had a great time with creator Nick Francis Potter who had us making comics without the bounds of reality.
Come check it out, and thanks for coming to the SAW Friday Night Workshops!
Course Lab's latest podcast featuring Tom Hart on "Drawing New Conclusions"
Check out Course Lab's latest podcast featuring Tom Hart on "Drawing New Conclusions." "Many course topics are believed to be “unteachable” online. Tom Hart teaches one of them — cartooning. Not only that, his school operates as a nonprofit. But despite bucking conventional wisdom in both ways, Tom’s school has been comically successful."
Making Comics and Graphic Literature Roundtable Discussion - Hosted by Tom Hart and Kelcey Ervick
This will be a virtual roundtable discussing the possibility of graphic literature from the frame work of The Field Guide to Graphic Literature: Artists and Writers on Creating Graphic Narratives, Poetry Comics, and Literary Collage, Edited by Kelcey Ervick & Tom Hart
Replay of Unexpected Fiction with MJ Robinson!
Replay Video of Unexpected Fiction workshop with MJ Robinson!
Friday Night Comics Recap: Oppo(sites and giggles) with November Garcia
If you missed our most recent *WE BELIEVE IN COMICS* Friday Night Workshop, catch the replay below!
"We had an amazing time with November Garcia who had us writing out our problems, but drawing the opposite expressions. Very therapeutic! We went deep, had fun, dealt with some real woes. Thanks to Ms. Garcia for helping us work this stuff out!"
Tuesday DROP-IN: Haiku Comics!
A couple weeks ago, we tried our hands at DRAWING LIKE A FILMMAKER with David Lasky, but can you believe it's been over a year since we made HAIKU COMICS (with David Lasky)?
We learned about how newspaper comic stripes with silent panels can be similar to how haikus are formatted,
we learned how comic stripes could also work with haikus incorporated in them,
and we learned how we can focus on the little moments in comics using this exercise.
Join us in COMICS FLOW + PUBLISH MEMBERSHIP GROUP
Come join us in our most affordable, online ongoing-community SAW FLOW + PUBLISH MEMBERSHIP GROUP (comes with a two-week free trial) to join in on MONTHLY PRO-CALLS!
MICE Recap!
Had a great time seeing some familiar faces around the network this past weekend at the Massachusetts Indie Comics Expo! Thanks again to everyone who stopped by to say hello, and welcome to anyone and everyone new to SAW who signed up after learning more about us!
Brooklyn Book Festival Guests: Jess Ruliffson and Beth Trembley
If you’re going to be in Brooklyn, NY at the beginning of October, check out SAW instructors Jess Ruliffson and Beth Trembley as they separately discuss healing and graphic storytelling at the Brooklyn Book Festival!
POLYOMINO IN THE YEAR-LONG PROGRAM
Our online Year-Long Intensive Program students recently tried their hands at POLYOMINOES. “What the heck is a polyomino?” Check out our blog to find out!
What If I Choose The Wrong Story To Tell?
Cartoonist and SAW instructor, Jess Ruliffson, posted a quote from a book she recommends centering on process.
"It's okay if you weren't brave enough or ready to write what you really needed to write. You will be next time." - Kristen Radke. (Quote from Before and After The Book Deal by Courtney Maum, a great book I recommend).
Cartoonist Identity Crisis
A personal comic by SAW member and Alumni, Kevin Curley, regarding process, growth, and identity as a cartoonist.
SAW Friday Night Comics Workshop - Recovering Memory through Comics with Jett Allen!
SAW Friday Night Comics Workshop - Recovering Memory through Comics with Jett Allen!
SAW Friday Night Comics Workshop: Drawing Clothes with Teresa Wong!
SAW Friday Night Comics Workshop - Drawing Clothes with Teresa Wong! Join us this Friday for a FREE Comics Workshop with Teresa Wong. Wong is author of the graphic memoir Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression. Her comics have appeared in The Rumpus and Event. She is the 2021–22 Canadian Writer-in-Residence at the University of Calgary. Don't forget to share your work after the workshop below in the comments, as a post using the "Friday Night Comics" topic, on social media using #fridaynightcomics #sawcomics @comicsworkshop, or all of the above!
Values, Goals and Systems!
Values, Goals and Systems! A recent student in the graphic memoir group mentioned their "maladaptive systems", and how they're doing a memoir about them. And it got me thinking about the hierarchy --which I'm sure I heard somewhere, but I can't remember where-- of values, goals, and systems…
Friday Night Comics Workshop: The Bad Art Hour with Daryl Seitchik!
Friday Night Comics Workshop: The Bad Art Hour with Daryl Seitchik! This workshop will focus on how embracing mistakes in drawing and storytelling can free us up and lead to happy accidents we wouldn't have come to any other way. There will be some drawing warm ups, a short google slides talk, and then an exercise in improvised comics + time to share. It's the class *I* need right now, so I'm hoping other people will benefit too!