What I learned from Lynda Barry about stories and flow and avoiding the inner critic!

I was extremely fortunate to take a week-long workshop in person with Lynda Barry back in 2001. A LOONG time ago now!

That workshop, "Writing the Unthinkable" was all about "seeing your story" and following behind it, "like water skiing."

Tom Hart guides viewers through each story in the 2000 page compilation of international, silent comics, "Comix 2000", published by L' Association in the year 2000. How do you make funny comics? How do you make up stories? Episode #6 of A WALK THROUGH COMIX 2000. I'm looking at each story one by one. This episode, #006 by Suzy Amakane

A walk through Comix 2000 with Tom Hart. This episode, Kalah Allen

Weeks 1 and 2 in our new space, with our newest students. How do you run an art school? How do you create community? And teach art students to become artists?

We are listening to you!

What are your biggest challenges in comics? What do you need?

Tell us here and we will respond.

Tom Hart guides viewers through each story in the 2000 page compilation of international, silent comics, "Comix 2000", published by L' Association in the year 2000. This episode, #004 by Dario Adanti

Continuing the WALK THROUGH COMIX 2000, this episode a delightful 3-page story by Peggy Adam

EPISODE 003

Let’s take an inside look at Justine’s process… New Mara, coming soon (enough).

SAW's new space for 2018. Help us plan it out! Tell us your favorite arts space in the comments!

Justine Mara Andersen re-launches MARA and discusses page 1. Justine has been busy prepping her files and pages to discuss with her students. This is a glimpse of a 32-page comic in progress, with valuable insights Justine is offering into the creative decision-making process on each page.

Continuing the WALK THROUGH COMIX 2000, this episode a 5-page story by Filipe Abranches.

This episode, a fun 4 page story by Jessica Abel, taking place in Mexico and feature an equal number of dead and alive people.

As always, we explore this in more depth, with an exercise, in the SAW Comix Flow Working Group, over here: https://learn.sawcomics.org/courses/comics-flow-group
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Come to SAW's Low Residency Week to get creative focus! Jumpstart a new comics project, or get a wayward project back on track in this weeklong comics workshop. 

Dr. Beth Trembley has taken so many of our courses, and even came to SAW last week for the Julia Gfrorer workshop. Trembley is a brilliant writer and tireless student of comics!

I’ve been wanting to create comics without words. And, I found the answer in Tom Hart’s workshop.

In my lectures I will show you  masterful drawings and paintings and we will examine the layers from the front to the back, and analyze how they arranged and depicted each layer.

I've been realizing lately why we tell our stories. It's to take our narrative for ourselves. And especially, to find continuity in our lives.

I was in the studio of cartoonist Brian Sendelbach in 1993, fretting about my latest mini-comic, when he stopped me and gave me the best piece of advice anybody has ever given me.

The best rejection letter I ever got came from an editor who was hiring all my friends for a hip anthology in the 90s. I had made a somewhat popular 50-page comic at this point, and thought anyone should hire me.