11/27/2014

Shape Face, Land of The Ugly, Dream Beam

November has been an exciting month for my career. I also turned 24 this month, and got to spend some much needed quality time with my favourite mother! Christmas card orders were folded, cut, packed, and shipped, I worked on a number of exciting client projects, and I got to see my work in the great and wonderful Reader's Digest!

The month started with the Toronto Canzine festival, where I tabled with my axe throwing buddy Melanie Hilder, a very charming very funny comic artist. I lugged 4 bags of decorations to the event, and we lucked out and got an incredible table at the very front of the Great Hall room. Three new zines made their debut, The Land of the Ugly and Shape Face (strange and wonderful collaborations with Derek Christoff (D-Sisive)) and Dream Beam (with Penny Forde). It was a great experience and I met so many enthusiastic artists! No one liked Shape Face even thought it is quite possibly my favourite thing I have ever made, but I understand it is a bit of an odd zine. All zines are available at etsy.com/shop/briannedonut.



I am continuing to experiment with my product photography to make my work stand out on Etsy. So far I have seen a small increase in favourites and sales, but right now is the magic 12 weeks before Christmas so that could also explain it.



Shape Face started as an illustration experiment. I filled the page (above) with all different shapes and built the facial features on top, allowing the faces to just become whatever they become. Some worked well, some are strange, but overall I think the faces have definite personality and a very contemporary look to them. I felt a great sense of relief after I finished Shape Face, as if I had figured out a huge component of my style as an artist. I always struggled with drawing people and often ended up working in styles that were more referential than I would like. When I finished Shape Face I felt I had created something original. I guess that is why it is my favourite piece so far, it opened up a lot of possibilities for me!

I submitted Shape Face to Broken Pencil for review, so hopefully they like it!


The Land of the Ugly began as a song by Derek Christoff, and morphed into an illustrated lyric book of sorts. The final zine is pretty grotesque looking. My favourite page is on the back, with a character I have named "Oil Face Boil Face". This one goes in the "things my mother will never understand" pile.

On November 15th the wonderful women at Fat Girl Food Squad took all of my zines on the road to Hamilton Feminist Zine Fair! Land of the Ugly and Anxious 2 were well received. Shape Face was not.

No comments:

Post a Comment