Hi everyone!

Sorry I missed a few weeks of posting, but I'm in travel mode and I'll be in Ontario till the end of July - living the nomad life. This picture of me is at TCAF, and the energy there was amazing! Every year it just gets bigger with more artists and more interested people of all ages and backgrounds who are there absorbing all the creativity. 

I loved being part of this event and having interesting conversations with the people stopping by my booth. A BIG thanks to everyone at the show, and to my booth-bunny Ken (my biggest fan!) who's always supportive of my artistic pursuits, and also to Emily who helped me out.

I hope to keep on track with posting pages from my second book, at least once a week. Cheers for now - Joan :^)

This is a reminder about TCAF next weekend! I will be there as an exhibitor with copies of my books and limited additions of the first chapter of book two, AURORA BOREALICE.  If you can't make it to this amazing convention, be sure to check out the TCAF web page for all the other exhibiting artist. Anyone who has been fallowing my blog - I hope to see you there!!!

After the convention I'll be posting a few completed pages a week from my second book, with all the word balloons this time!
:^)

I did this comic in 1980, it was my first crude attempt at sequential narrative using word balloons. We took a trip to BC and then to California. Enjoy! 

These are drawings I did of our trip to NYC back in the late 70s.  The upper left picture at the Marvel office with Tom Orzakowski an amazing comic book letterer and Dean Motter, an amazing artist who collaborated with Ken on many comic projects, he's in my first book. The next picture is at Times Square, the next is at a great restaurant. Next row. we went to a Marx Bros. play then stayed in a creepy hotel. Bottom left we're on the top of the World Trade Centre, then off to Blooming Dales and because we couldn't afford a cab in those days, we took the subway. New York was pretty run down back then but it was still a fascinating city to visit. 

  I 'm  putting these drawings in my graphic novel  to show  my  early  attempt at visual narrative. They were really more like illustrated snapshots of our trip,  in the format of SX70 photos. Ken always took a camera were ever we went but I wanted something different, so this is what I came up with. Pictures without words in my own simple style.

My parents were more like grandparents to me. My mom was forty and my dad was in his late forties when they had me. I have a younger brother and two older sisters. By the end the day after the long hours in the scrap yard, my dad needed to relax and my mom wanted to finish the dishes and  go to bed. After having two kids of my own I can understand that!  No time for flash cards when there was to much work to be done. 

My earliest memory of drawing was when I realized I could get a likeness of people. I drew a lot  but never kept any drawings back then. I had lots of time to doodle because I didn't have homework like my siblings. It's interesting how that may have worked to my  advantage as an artist but not academically. In elementary school I was influenced by Basil Wolvertons' ugly drawings on bubble gum cards I bought at dime stores. We especially enjoyed the ones with our friends names on them - always good for a laugh! I did a whole binder of ugly drawings that I wished I'd kept.

Basil Wolverton gum cards below!!

Ever have those days when you want to beat your self up?!