An article by SAW Instructor, Jess Ruliffson, going over a recent PRO-CALL we had with REIMENA YEE on how to make a webcomic; tools to make webcomics; webcomics vs. print; and more!

Catch the replay of our most recent Friday Night Comics Workshop with Sarah Mirk! We first explored a 10 minute drawing challenge—in the top quarter of the page, draw a full body portrait of yourself as a teen wearing one of those significant clothing items. You can draw simple (you can be a blob)! Then, we tried to incorporate some details that help visually tell the story of who we were—Maybe label the important clothing item, tell us what it is and when and where you got it. What would you carry around as a teen?

My trip to University of Maine Farmington---

I had such a GREAT TIME at the University of Maine in Farmington. The fantastic writer Amy Neswald invited me up to give a workshop and a talk, and it was terrific. 

“DON'T LOOK NOW BRINGS TOGETHER NEW AND EXPERIMENTAL WORK FROM MEMBERS OF THE SEQUENTIAL ARTISTS WORKSHOP'S ONLINE COMMUNITY. INSIDE YOU'LL FIND STORIES OF A GAMESHOW GONE WRONG ALONGSIDE REIMAGINED CLASSICAL POETRY AND SONGS. TURN THE PAGE TO TREATIES ON SELF HELP CULTURE AND PERSONAL STORIES OF PARENTHOOD, AND MORE.”

We bring in comic professionals from all walks of life to guest speak (virtually) at SAW. These guest speakers give SAW students/members some insight from their personal experiences throughout their comics career and welcome questions at the end of each session. Come join us!

Our next Pro Call is with Remeina Yee! 

Intimate yet expansive, No Straight Lines chronicles the rise of five DIY comic artists who were part of an artistic movement that ushered LGBTQ art into the mainstream.

Catch the replay of our most recent Friday Night Comics Workshop with Sarah Maloney @maloneydoodles! We explored CREATING PLACE in our comics where we were asked to draw some shoes and then to consider where those pair of shoes would take us. We hope you've been having a good time enjoying this creative community full of art-making!

We had a great call with comics artist, health explorer, deep listener and community builder, Georgia Webber this past week! Webber guided us through what drew her to comics; her early work as an editor and designer (including a double zine bound on each side and held together); the process of DUMB, which was heavily thought out but then drawn directly in ink; and her collaboration in “Dancing After TEN,” in which she was tasked with illustrating the story of Vivian Chong's life with Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (TEN) and how it eventually affected her vision.

We had a really lovely time with Aidan Koch who had us talking and drawing about climate change. What we were afraid of, what we were hopeful for, what we were doing in our communities. It meant a lot, a lot of people shared and a lot of people felt better and more connected in the end. Come take a look and share your concerns with us. We hope you have a good time enjoying some creative community and art-making!

We had a great time with Tom Motley from SVA who brought us through DAREDOODLES, some inventive ways to make characters and comics!

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! 

SAW Pro-Call with Georgia Webber on Career and Health.

Georgia Webber is a comics artist, editor, and facilitator living in Newfoundland. She is entirely occupied by the intersection of health and art, making music, comics, and facilitating courses from this point of fascination.  

The Pain of Who We Aren't

"Take a look at yourself in the mirror.

Do you look like you? Do you look like you want to? Hopefully you do, but most of us don't. Most of us feel STUCK with the person in the mirror. But I also know that if you feel you want to be someone else, or somewhere else, THAT PAIN is exactly what you should be writing and drawing about...

In fact, I will go to the mat about this: any story worth a damn is about someone who is somewhere they don't want to be.

I'm going to say that again: Every good story is about someone who is not who they want to be, but who pushes on anyway…

We had a great time with Josh Bayer @joshmbayer (Instagram account) drawing characters with objects, learning and using shading techniques that amplify our comics, and bringing the holiday season into it, we talked about making a stories of objects we exchange, Josh mentioned that a good way to start a comic plot is to make a list i.e. objects we exchange, things we struggle to buy, things we want to buy, disappointing gifts, disappointing reactions, etc.

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.

We had a great time with Yasmeen Abedifard @yasmeen.abedi expressing the self through characters. We learned how cartoon characters have a unique way of evoking empathy and about mirroring emotions in the characters we create. We made some great 1 page comics with the complex characters we created in the workshop!

If you missed it, here's the replay!

Donna Druchunas Returns For Another SAW Student Interview.

SAW STUDENT INTERVIEW: Susan Marks 

usan lives in near Sacramento, California with her husband and two rambunctious cats, and “no snow.” A native midwesterner who has lived in snow for enough in her life, she enjoys the dry heat of northern central California. She retired from a 40+ year career in nursing and making comics is her passion and main retirement activity.

“Make small things. Find friends to counter the “bad” voice.

Do "unimportant" things (like small things, fast things, like journal in the notebook things, single panels, just faces, etc.) - the critics tend to be quelled a little when they think what you are doing is unimportant…”

We had a great time with David Lasky playing around with Shots like a Filmmaker. We all made great stories filled with mystery and a little bit of drama-  super fun. Come join us! Come try, it yourself. 

Animated faces can SHOW a reader what WORDS sometimes can't, or purposefully don't. One extra line could change a neutral face to a sad one, or a happy face to a scary face.

We had an amazing time with Kristen Radtke, who had us drawing diagrams about secrets.