Dearly beloved

Many happy returns to my friends Tara and Timo, who got married a couple of weeks ago. I took a blank sketchbook with me when I went to their wedding, and some of the drawings I did are showing up on Facebook.

I started leaving sketchbooks of drawings at friend's weddings a few years ago, back when I was often going to them alone. It was a good way for me to avoid having to make awkward introductions, and passed the time.

Now I just do it because it's fun.

STINK

I must admit to a little guilt for posting without adding any of my drawings. What a horrible thing to do. Here's four pages from Stink, my 24-page minicomic, which I will have available at the show I mentioned below.

Looking back at Stink, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out... It ends with action and it's predicated upon a contrivance, but I like the Stephen King-like story trope of presenting a normal, likable guy with a horrible situation and watching him try to wriggle out of it.

I will definitely have to work out another idea like this one. I really enjoyed making a little weird thing... Photocopying and stapling and selling it seems like the less fun part than sitting down with some cardstock and a brush pen and just going.

The girl in the story had to be re-drawn... She was rocking the side ponytail (which I will use in a future story, I love that look) but the design was not right. I re-drew her based on Michelle L'Amour, the burlesque dancer, who is coincidentally appearing at the Montreal Burlesque Festival this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to find time to go.

If you would like a copy of Stink, please email me at kelly at kelly tindall dot com. I shall have to put a link on my site, I think. Good night.

Montreal Comic Con, September 19th-20th

Hey hey hey,

I will be a guest of the Montreal Comic Con this coming weekend. I will have pages, prints, mini-comics, comics, a preview of Squeak!, and I'll be doing commissions as well. I'm looking quite forward to the show, it's a local one and the last one was a lot of fun.

See you there!

Take your sketchbook to the rock show, son

I went out to a heavy metal concert at Metropolis last week. The bands were Nashville Pussy, Reverend Horton Heat, and Motorhead. All three bands have been on my to-do list for quite some time and the club is very close to my apartment, so that was a no-brainer (literally! not a bad thing tho').

And, of course, I took my sketchbook.





One of the more fun experiences I've had since I moved to Montreal. It's one of my goals to get out and experience more things for myself, really get into the nuts and bolts of my life and try to extract experiences from it to lengthen and deepen myself as a person and an artist.

Notes: Deaf for 36 hours after, first mosh pit, first metal concert in the pit, first time at a concert in Montreal that wasn't headlined by Alicia Keyes (long story), first heavy metal t-shirt, and first time at the awesome Metropolis nightclub, which is more impressive than any of the churches I've visited since coming here.

Labour Day

Extra 'u' due to Canadianism. I'll be spending most of the day on Squeak! pages.

I've had a week to chew on Hobbystar Fan Expo '09 this year. Generally a very positive experience, I'd say. The fans were great, the commissions were a lot of fun (I get Hellboy a lot, which makes sense), and sales were surprising. My two regrets: no time to shop on Sunday (so I still don't have a copy of Age of Reptiles 2 AND missed Jeff Lemire completely), and I didn't get a chance to rectify my oversight from last year and buy a piece of art from Eric Talbot.

I did, however, buy a Turtles commission from Jim Lawson. Jim was a hero of mine when I was a kid... The turtles were a massive part of my childhood and Jim was a massive part of the turtles.

Thanks, Jim.

I also bought a Lobster Johnson page from Jason Armstrong, who was the first to welcome me out east and has been a constant source of support and advice. The jewel of the show, bookwise, was Kathryn Immonen and David Lafuentes's wicked Patsy Walker: Hellcat. My wife and I both loved how surreal and crazy and clever it turned out to be. I've also got the most recent Ultimate Spider-Man trade (with Stuart Immonen's tasty artwork) on my nightstand. Kathryn and Stuart both have a tremendous amount of talent, wit, and integrity and it is always a pleasure to speak to either of them. I always wear out my welcome.

Big thanks to Riley and Alex (and their girls and little ones) for coming out east. I miss them both. Other folks for whom credits are due: Cameron Stewart (he's going to have an unbelievable 2010), Ray Fawkes (his growth as an artist embarrasses me with its fullness), Gibson Quarter (a good man to share a table with), and Kim Belair & Rebecca Stacey (for drawing a crowd and preventing me from talking with them for even one second).

Enough of this business. Who else is thinking about Batman today?