That's right folks, my new book from Oni Press is JUST around the corner, sneaking peeks at us every so often, so today is the LAST day you can pre-order it from your local comic shop! Pre-ordering means you're supporting local biz AND letting the comics industry know you like books like this and wanna see more of 'em! :)
Use Diamond Code: NOV141569
THANKS!!
Wee, the last and FINAL WEEK of my daily Hitmen Pin-up drawings is done! This was a super fun challenge - well just the drawing part, finding hitmen was surprisingly easy. Let me know which one you guys think turned out the best. I'll post a mondo huge compilation of all of them, too.
If you're interested in buying a print of any of them, they'll be available for sale to my Patreon patrons! So if you'd like a print, just chip in a wee $1 a month and you can purchase one!
Week Three of my daily Hitmen Pin-up drawings is done! This week was the first time I let myself re-draw a few of them, which ALWAYS turned out better than they'd been initially. Which makes me think I should've done that for ALL of them, but whaddya gonna do. This is a daily challenge, and if it takes me too long I probably wouldn't do it!
And again ... to follow along each day, head to my Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr's. And if you're interested in buying a print of any of them, they'll be available for sale to my Patreon patrons! So if you'd like a print, just chip in a wee $1 a month and you can purchase one! And lemme know whatcha think so far!
Here they are!
I kind of feel like doing some commissions pre-Emerald City Comic Con this year, WHO WANTS SOME?? It gives me an excuse to do some fun drawing before then and get to see your lovely faces at the show when you come grab your print!
[one_half last="no"]
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Here's the info:
8" x 10" original art, blue (or red) pencil and ink.
1 figure, black & white – $50
2 figures, black & white – $85
**add $35 for each add’l figure in black & white**
All payment up front, via paypal at artemnis at gmail dot com.
Questions? Send me an email at lipstickisspress@gmail.com
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I will also be doing commissions at the show, but those might be a little crazy and coffee/lipstick covered - but hey - AUTHENTIC!
Chapter 1 of my new book Part-Time Princesses is now up on Comixology!
Click here to buy/read/subscribe to the series so you won't miss any of them!
Week Two of my daily Hitmen Pin-up drawings is complete! Let's see ... this week I learned that sometimes it's better if I just sketch the way I would interpret a character, rather than trying to make it actually look like them. Eh, mixed results.
And again ... to follow along each day, head to my Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr's. And if you're interested in buying a print of any of them, they'll be available for sale to my Patreon patrons! So if you'd like a print, just chip in a wee $1 a month and you can purchase one! And lemme know whatcha think so far!
Here they are!
Week One of my daily Hitmen Pin-up drawings is complete! So far it's been a fun challenge, even though I'm a little embarrassed at all the flaws each time I post them. BUT every sketch is a one-chance only, no redo's or take-back's, so there you go, drawing style of mine!
To follow along each day, head to my Instagram, Twitter or Tumblr's. And if you're interested in buying a print of any of them, they'll be available for sale to my Patreon patrons! So if you'd like a print, just chip in a wee $1 a month and you can purchase one! And lemme know whatcha think so far!
Here's a compilation for y'all:
I've decided to celebrate the lovey-dovey month of February, I'm going to do a drawing of a hitman a day in my sketchbook! Each one taken from movies, tv shows, whatev's I can think of. Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or Tumblr's to see them! Oh hell, even my Facebook page if that floats yer boat!
And if you're interested in buying a print of any of them, they'll be available for sale to my Patreon patrons! So if you'd like a print, just chip in a wee $1 a month and you can purchase one!
Up first - La Femme Nikita! The Peta Wilson version, since she was my FAVE. She did love her crazy colored glasses oh so much.
It is so close to all of you out there, but for me MY ADVANCED COPY HAS ARRIVED AND IT IS GLORIOUS AND IT IS SPARKLY:
Here's a picture of the back and OH HEY LOOK MK Reed had something to say about it:
I'm JUUUUUST a wee bit over excited that my first ever full length full comic written and drawn by me is going to be out in 10 weeks. 10 weeks! March 25th! It's teens! It's an amusement park! THERE MIGHT BE FIGHTS TOO!
Here are some ways you can get the book and therefore support me and become my best friend:
WHATEVER your preferred method of buying and viewing and consuming, you have my deeeeeepest appreciation!
IMMA JETPACK OFF INTO THE BEST 2015 EVAR!
G'wan, get outta here 2014, move along, chop chop! Hey c'mere 2015, come sit down, how you doin'?
I've been so over 2014 for about 6 months now but also weirdly afraid to let it go. Some years are just all about plodding through stuff and making creative deposits for the future, and floating along impatient until stuff starts to take effect. As glad as I am that 2014 is over and sad that the holidays are done, I am nerdy enough to appreciate a good fresh start. However, before you can look ahead and promise yourself you'll eat more veggies, jog 24 hours a day, learn Ruby, and save enough to quit your day job, it's always important to take note of what you have accomplished so far. Then you can meet that future/better/snarkier jerk version of yourself that's got her shit together STRAIGHT in the eyes and say "SEE? Here is the proof I've got this future - a whole list of things I've already gotten!"
THINGS I MANAGED TO DO IN 2014:
SOME THINGS I LEARNED IN 2014:
Okay, enough reminiscing about good ol' 2014. ON TO THE NEXT!
COMICS COMING OUT IN 2015:
CONVENTIONS PLANNED FOR 2015:
Anyway, as always I couldn't do this whole crazy comics thing without you all out there reading my stuff! I mean, I'd probably still do it but it'd be WAY SADDER. A big, hearty, cheesy-face thank you to all of you out there for continuing to support me!
LET'S TALK PODCASTS!
I know everyone's all about the Serial right now (myself included - only 12 episodes, wha-WHAT??), but I wanted to give a shout out to some of my tried and true faves over the years (as any comicker will tell you, we go through a LOT of podcasts and audiobooks, crammed in amongst pencilling and inking and computerizing hours). I always try out some new ones, so this isn't ALL I'm listening to just now, but these are some oldie reliables:
Stuff Mom Never Told You - A big one for me - Cristen and Caroline are not only informed and thorough when presenting a lot of women's issues, but somehow manage to keep it from succumbing to OH GOD WHY with a good blend of sassy humor. Cristen dons her fake British accent and Caroline talks about everything in relation to her mom Sally and we all learn something without feeling depressed. And - check out how awesome Cristen's youtube channels are - the muppet is strong with this one!
Mysterious Universe - Another one I've been listening to for years, this podcast run by two Australian gents about everything paranormal is a real treat. They dish about all the latest sightings, mock Time Travelling Yowie followers, and admit to ghost encounters of their own that still leave them terrified. If you LOVE paranormal stuff like me but are afraid of the crystal worshippers, check this one out.
The Guardian Tech Weekly - A newer one (to me) that I've been trying out to get my fix of tech news. It always features a panel with a variety of topics, and the panelists are knowledgeable without being boring.
The Thrilling Adventure Hour - Oh man - my obsession with live radio broadcasts began with an episode of Frasier and WILL NEVER DIE. I was so happy to find not only an old-style radio broadcast but one that blends in heaps of nerd culture and amazing storytelling altogether. WITH tons of guest stars. And incorporating the ghost of a pterodactyl who's a deputy private eye. I LOVE THIS.
Jill on Money - Money slash financial podcasts are boring and awful but Jill answers questions, listens, and makes fun of her producer while not making you feel like an idiot AND passing on good advice. She's awesome.
99% Invisible - A design podcast that points out the design in the everyday - I love its subtlety and appreciation of the minute details. Plus I love any podcast that exhibits city planning that was actually, you know, thought about a bit.
RadioLab - Beautifully crafted sounds and discussions around several stories making up one scientific topic - I've had many a walk while listening to all the little bips and beeps Jad throws in the background, which really fill each episode with surprising depth.
StarTalk - Neil DeGrasse Tyson is a hero for all of us, leading the charge to bring scientific discovery back into vogue. His podcast is super informative while being exciting and encouraging, in true NDG fashion. Plus, every now and again he has Eugene Mirman co-host or run one of his live shows, which makes my day every time.
Savage Lovecast - I go through phases where I alternate between his snarky antics and Sex Nerd Sandra's zippy, fun answers to sex questions.
Stuff you Missed In History Class - The latest host pairing has done a great job (past pairings have been UBER awkward) - Holly especially in bringing some heart and feeling (and hella knowledge about historical clothesmaking) to the show.
Stuff You Should Know - A classic, general informy podcast on a wide range of topics with a HUGE back catalog. Josh & Chuck do a good job of balancing hardcore facts with rambly tangents without being annoying. Their banter is genuine, and funny, and rare.
I also go back and forth on WTF, Welcome to Night Vale, and The Daily Show Podcast. What are YOU PEOPLE listening to? I always love trying out a new one to throw in the pile!
It's time for another edition of comics creators hanging out in a local bar in Baltimore, drawin' things, drinkin' things, and selling their books for all to enjoy!
Come on down to The Wind-Up Space this Sunday, December 14th from 12:00 - 5:00pm for the fun and squeeze in some holiday shopping while yer at it!
I recently finished watching the first season of Penny Dreadful, which I've managed to drag out over the last few months. I liked it right away, mainly due to the cast and the moodiness of it, but then another characteristic of the show popped up that i found interesting. From the onset it seems very League of Extraordinary Gentleman, and it's tempting to do (which I totally did) the game where you spot the vampire, and the werewolf, and the frankenstein, etc. Ho hum, boring, we've seen this before. Look! Even a Dorian Gray thrown into the mix.
But what this show does differently, which I came to appreciate, is that it doesn't make a huge big deal of "GUESS WHAT ONE OF OUR CHARACTERS IS A WEREWOLF". The werewolf reveal isn't the point. The point is the character behind the werewolf, and how he's behaving and managing his shit and all the other aspects of his personality. So that once the werewolf is finally revealed, there's a LOT more to pull from his character (and be curious about - how does he have priest powers, for example?) and you don't have to just rely on BOOM WEREWOLF for all the character drama.
I haven't really witnessed this approach before - it's usually been the instant reveal, meant to surprise, and then backtracking to develop the rest of the character behind the werewolf. I really appreciated that the paranormal alter ego was almost an afterthought.
The main character Vanessa has power NOT as a vampire or werewolf, but in so much as things don't fuck with her because she's already possessed by something really awful. Something which she continually wrestles with and beats down by force of will. As horrific as her encounters with her possessor are, I do appreciate having a character who isn't known for her overblown outward powers as much as her inward strength.
It's an interesting thing to think about in terms of story development, and since I'm currently immersed in coming up with new ideas to pitch around, I appreciate finding shows like this that screw with boring ol' tropes.
Well . . . I'm never gonna be sick of werewolves, that's just a fact.
. . . Because you can never have enough drawings of Greek Goddesses, right? Or, like my classmate in college said when I turned in yet ANOTHER Greek Mythology-themed piece - "Typical Gallagher subject matter". ALL THE GODDESSES ALL THE TIME!
You can find all of these Power Ladies in either my Etsy Shop or my Storenvy one!
I know you're all being inundated with CRAZY FRIDAY POST-THANKSGIVING FOOD COMA SPEND MONEY NOW offers, so allow me to quietly, respectfully, slip this into your discount pile ...
It expires at midnight on Tuesday, December 2nd to, y'know give you an extra day to relax a bit.
And hey, if you're a Patreon person, you get even more off! Check out the activity feed for deets.
(if you're not a Patreon person, it's super easy to join in the behind-the-scenes comic talks we're having!)
Hey guys, I'll be hosting a panel for this year's ComfyCon TOMORROW!
(if you don't know what ComfyCon is, it's a fabulous webcomics creators convention run by comics peeps from the comfort of their own beds/pajama pants, created by Randy Milholland and Danielle Corsetto!)
The con is going on all weekend, so make sure to follow @ComfyCon on twitter to get the youtube links as they go up - also, here's the full schedule.
I'll be hosting the Making Comics Around a DayJob panel tomorrow at 2:00pm with Jeff Zugale and Gordon McAlpin! If you'd like to know how we juggle comics n' jobs, or what the interior of one room in our house looks like, or want to witness Google Hangouts in their purest awkwardness, join us!
***EDIT: In case you missed it, you can check out the panel here!
I borrowed a copy of Allie Brosh's Hyperbole and a Half book a while back from a friend of mine, who recently reminded me that I still hadn't returned it. I figured it would be just another in a long line of books I borrowed from people - intending to read it, and then realizing I am really bad at reading/finishing books that aren't audiobooks.
And this isn't because I don't LOVE Hyperbole and a Half - I not only do, but also think Allie Brosh is uncannily brilliant at drawing facial expressions not seen on any human but likewise deeply understood in the human brain. (In my whole life, I will never create anything as perfect as The God of Cake)
Unfortunately, I have this thing where if I think something will affect me in a specific negative way, I avoid doing/reading/watching that thing entirely. Like my emotions are controlled by a series of buttons and once the wrong one is pushed it's impossible to pop it back out again and return to neutral. I mainly do this just in case they reiterate feelings of anxiety. I have gotten a LOT better about managing my anxiety in general (getting older helped a lot, as did volleyball, weirdly) but sometimes I forget all the work I've done managing my anxiety and worry that one little teeny tiny thing will push it back all up in my face. Because that's what anxiety does - it stays hidden in the corner with its ears pricked up, waiting to see if you'll fall for any of its filthy tricks again. Anxiety is those ghosts in Mario that follow you around and only stop when you look directly at them.
So when I read Brosh's strips on depression, outlining her experience drudging through it, and then heard Terry Gross bully her into talking about her suicidal thoughts on Fresh Air, I worried reading the whole Hyperbole and a Half book would make me too upset. (I'm not even linking to that crap interview)
Dumb, right? Yeah, reading about other people's struggles and hardships might upset you, yeh toolbag.
But then yesterday, while cleaning out my old podcasts on my phone, I discovered Marc Maron had recently interviewed Brosh and gave it a listen. The two of them had such a wonderful, caring, complete conversation not just about her depression, but about her life and experiences and intelligence and brilliance in general, that it was the perfect palette cleanser after the crap Terry Gross put her through. Yes, Maron can be a bit of a blowhard who loves to hear himself talk, and even though they still touched on a lot of really, REALLY, difficult stuff, I felt like this time it was more at Brosh's own speed, with someone who made an effort to understand an inkling of what she was talking about.
Which made me finally buck up and read the book, which is AMAZING and HILARIOUS and thought-provoking and I'm so glad I did.
So I think my takeaway from this experience (and the reason I've decided to bring it up here) that I've learned is that hey - talking about this stuff, whether anxiety, depression, mental illness, weird cravings, whatev - may actually make it a wee bit better! Maybe I shouldn't be so scared that just by saying the word ANXIETY three times I'll invoke the creature out of its corner.
Now -- my fear of invoking Bloody Mary just by THINKING about her name three times whilst in the bathroom -- that one I'm pretty sure is conquered by drinking Bloody Mary's every chance you get.
Maybe now I can move on to listening to the "How Panic Attacks Work" podcast from How Stuff Works that I intentionally skipped over ...
In Part 2 of my boring post-wedding recap, we get to the part I was most excited about … the DECOR! Well, excited when I wasn't paralyzed with overwhelming fear at how to put it all together. First I casually browsed some Pinterest ideas - specifically, looking at things like this and this, but THIS one is where I got my main inspiration from:
So rather than having table numbers, I decided to do drawings for each table, each one an interest of mine, or my fiancé's, or both - which lead to these:
Next I needed to figure out what ELSE to put on the table. Since we knew it'd be outside in Fall, I was happy to do minimal runners as tablecloths (plus, hello - just renting table linens, I found out, was hella expensive). For a while I considered these tablecloths from Susty Party because they were simple, cute and cheap:
But we ended up throwing out that idea as being too unpredictable in a possibly windy outdoors. We were all set doing only burlap runners until the caterer and my fiancé convinced me that the tables needed full coverage, not just for aesthetics but because the uneven, splintery wood bits might snag the guests' clothing. So now we had white tablecloths with burlap runners as our base. Good deal.
We rented stemless glasses and linen napkins from the caterer too, but instead of using their dishes we found some super cute compostable dishes from Verterra that we wanted to incorporate:
Unfortunately, they were all sold out of their cute cutlery by the time we got to them, but luckily we found this place that had a similar alternative.
Next I had to figure out how else to fill up the tables. I'd seen on Young House Love a long while back that they'd used recycled wine bottles as water/lemonade/tea servers at their wedding, and figured maybe there was some way we could use our *ahem*MASSIVE*ahem* collection of empties at ours. I didn't want to use them to serve drinks, but thought it'd be fun to have them serve as vases. I spent a LOT of time trying to use this method to soak the labels off of the bottles, while my fiancé rubbed them with olive oil and then scraped the label off. Neither method was perfect, but both eventually worked. I threw some wheat stalks in them that I found at Michael's (and kept hidden in a closet until the wedding so my cat wouldn't continue to be mesmerized by them) so voila - more table stuff.
Next I convinced my parents to pick up a zillion flameless candles they found at Costco, which ended up being not only perfect for table decor, but also for port-a-potty decor, bar decor, and now for all-over-my-house-decor. They even have remote controls and timers, so you can have a BAM ROMANTIC atmosphere greet you whenever you get home from work! (which may or may not feel appropriate EVERY day)
These things and these cinnamon-scented pine cones I also picked up at Michael's really saved the port-a-potty experience, too. You feel less like an ass asking people to use a port-a-potty on a cold November day when at least it smells like cinnamon and has some candlelight ambience.
The only thing left to throw on the tables were some mason jars, because hello - rustic wedding, of COURSE there had to be mason jars! Which turned out to be a good thing, since the metal rods I'd gotten to hold the table cards immediately fell over, and needed to be braced within a mason jar in order to stand at all. They still tended to lean off-kilter, but maybe people would assume that was on purpose. Wouldn't want the drawing of the Muppets to be perfectly straight and upright, where's the fun in that??
It was pretty funny, the caterer had some design helpers who took it upon themselves to decorate the tables for us, using gourds and tree stump things and pumpkins from the venue. But we blew in, all "HOLD YOUR HORSES, WE'VE GOT EMPTY WINE BOTTLES AND DRAWINGS OF CATS WE NEED TO USE - I HAVE A PLAN". They stared at us and our wood cutlery and fake candles, but somehow throwing everything together worked out.
Here's what the final table setup looked like:
I added a new print to my Etsy & Storenvy & Society6 shops today - LEAF STOMP!
And if you want to see the sketch from which it started, check out my Patreon activity feed!
And thus - let the blogging about my wedding last weekend begin!
When we first decided to get married, we had zero idea of where we wanted to do it. Our favorite bar? Too small. Our local supercute restaurant? Also too small. An old mansion? The zoo? The list was endless, though the prices/capacity SUPER varied.
Plus I was having trouble with the triple threat that hits you in the face immediately upon planning a wedding - which comes first: The date, the venue, or the guest list? You can't have a date if you don't know if a venue will be free on a particular date. You can't choose a venue until you know how many people you're inviting ... and how the hell can you invite anyone when you don't know when you're going to have it??
I was stuck at this, the very initial phase of planning, until my photographer friend Amanda mentioned this super cute outdoor venue we could consider:
. . . RIGHT?? Cute, oozingly RUSTIC (which in this case wasn't a keyword for "crap" like Emily Gilmore thinks), and most importantly available in the fall AND customizable to however many people you wanted. SOLD. Plus we could have it all weekend, and since we'd chosen Saturday, November 1st as our wedding date - that only meant one thing - HALLOWEEN PRE-PARTY BOO YAH.
Hemlock Farm is the name of this amazing place, which comes complete with a faux barn-hotel-B&B-thingie attached that you can rent out just for some fun, beautiful vacay's close to downtown Annapolis. It's gorgeous, and the owner Jen not only designed it but has a KA-BILLION ideas on how to change/alter/design it some more for whatever you want. When we rolled in Friday afternoon with our cars weighed down with empty wine bottles, wheat, and drawings (more on the decor in a post to come!) she already had a fun set of lanterns, tree stumps, and gourds for us to play with if we wished. Available gourds!
Which you can make the most of, by posing awkwardly in front of everything!
(all photos credit: Matt Hollis)
And no, we hadn't yet considered what a wedding outdoors in November in Maryland (Maryland Weather is a crafty creature who combines humidity + frost + CRAZY WIND TUNNELS to keep us all looking wind-blown and moist and unprepared for anything) would be like, nor how many other things (tables, tents, bathrooms, food, etc) we'd have to find with an outdoor venue. More on that in a later post on this, when the Boring Post-Wedding Blog Post RECAP series continues!
Up next ... DECOR!
Monica Gallagher is a comic book creator, illustrator and freelance designer making work for hire with a positive, feminist spin.
Staple! - Table 69 // Austin, TX // Apr. 13 - 14
C2E2 - Table Z-16 Artist Alley // Chicago, IL // Apr. 26 - 28
SPX - Bethesda, MD // Sept. 14 - 15
Thought Bubble - Harrogate, UK // Nov. 16 - 17
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