Category Archives: Opportunities

Urban Sketchers Sketch-Out for the Grand Opening of the Saint Paul Union Depot December 8th

From conspirator Ken Avidor comes the following invitation (read the full post here):

Attention, Fellow Twin Cities Urban Sketchers!

We will be sketching at the Union Depot in Lowertown, Saint Paul on December 8th to sketch the historic opening of the magnificent , newly restored landmark. There will be plenty of time to sketch and we will be photographing everyone’s masterpieces at the end of the day for the blog. More details to come here and at the Metro Sketchers Facebook page.

Learn more about the event at the Union Depot Facebook page and Ramsey County Regional Rail News.

Stay tuned for more info.

24 Hour Comics Day is this Weekend (October 20-21)! Minneapolis Event Information

Above: 24 Hour Comics Day Minneapolis 2012 Poster by Carlos Merino… click on it for a larger version… click here for a version you can download, print and distribute.

24 hours. Draw 24 pages of comics— or have fun in the attempt.

This is a FREE event- No need to sign up. Please note that table space is first come, first served, though. (Please help us spread the word out there, thanks!)

Here is Carlos’ summary of the event:

Nutshell: Take no more than 24 hours to draw 24 pages of comics.

It’s a dare and a creative exercise. It won’t be your best comic, but it will be among your longest comics.

You are not supposed to think of an idea beforehand.

Some bring a randomizer tool to ensure the idea will be thought up that day. (For example: Pick seven random words from a dictionary — put them all in your comic’s plot.)

You can prepare your materials beforehand. You can line boxes onto your paper and such.

Wet Paint of St. Paul will have a store there for the first few hours, so you can fill in materials you forgot to bring.

Consider working smaller than you usually do. 24 pages is a lot of ground to cover in 24 hours.

Minneapolis version is at MCBA and starts at 10 a.m. Saturday morning. Come a little early to get there before the starting bell.

Spending 24 hours in one place can be difficult. Bring snacks, beverages, personal entertainment/distraction devices, a cushion for sitting, a toothbrush.

Bring snacks for others, if you wish. There’ll be a table or two to hold community snack items.

MCBA has a wifi network. It’s better than nothing, but there are ever-more computers showing up at the event, and that seems to slow down the wifi.

There are not many outlets. If you are bringing lots of electronic companions, consider bringing a power strip.

Many people finish by the 17-hour mark (2 or 3 in the morning) and go home. That’s okay. Many people quit before finishing. That’s okay, too.

We’re all in the room together, but except for pizza time, it’s not really a chit-chatty, loud-music social event. Words of encouragement, however are always welcome.

Thanks much to the Minnesota Center for Book Arts for providing us with the best imaginable space for this event to take place in!

Thanks much to the Midwest Comic Book Association for providing us with free late night pizza!

Thanks much to Wet Paint Art for providing some free supplies for folks to use (note: you will still want to bring your own supplies)!


Minneapolis 24 Hour Comics Day blog

Kevin Cannon’s How To Survive 24 Hour Comics Day tips

24 Hour Comics Day Tweeting http://twitter.com/#!/24hourcomicday

24 Hour Comics Day International Event’s Official Site

24 Hour Comics Day Minneapolis Event on Facebook

Minnesota Center for Book Arts
1011 Washington Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Contact: Cartoonist Conspiracy
Email: 24hourcomicday@gmail.com
Web: http://24-hourcomic.blogspot.com/
Event Date & Start Time: Our event starts October 20th, 2012 at 10 AM

Ask Not What Your Conspiracy Can Do for You… Call for Volunteers for Lutefisk Sushi Volume E Project

We are looking for a few more volunteers to help us put our upcoming Lutefisk Sushi Volume E event together (reminder… deadline this Saturday September 15th!). Specifically, we are looking for:

– A person to help promote the event online, ideally someone who digs using the social networking stuff the kids seem to like using these days.
– A person to help make signs for the event
– A person to coordinate food for the event

We’ll also want additional help with collating the boxes when the time comes… but it is usually pretty easy to find people for that.

Thanks for considering helping out.

To volunteer, please contact lmcginty(at)alteredesthetics.org

Lutefisk Sushi Volume E Deadline in Less Than Two Weeks!

The Lutefisk Sushi Volume E Deadline is in Less Than Two Weeks!

And, gee… that is really more than enough time to get something together! We’re not building the freaking Taj Mahal, here! I’ve seen mini-comics masterpieces drawn and printed in under eight hours! What the hell are you freaking out about? Don’t make me slap you! I swear, I’ll do it!

We want your mini-comics!*

To participate:
-Draw, print and deliver 160 copies of a mini-comic (any format) to Altered Esthetics before September 15th.
-Show up for the opening gallery celebration November 2nd at Altered Esthetics and have a good time.

That’s it. All submissions are accepted until the unlikely event that we can no longer cram them into a box. Every person who submits 160 mini-comics gets a box.**

Lutefisk Sushi is a hand-silkscreened, limited-edition box set of Minnesota mini-comics. This is the fifth edition… previous editions have contained between 35 and 55 comics each. This year’s featured artist and box-cover creator is Eisner-Award-winning cartoonist Zander Cannon (Double Barrel, Top 10, Chainsaw Vigilante).

Read more about submission details here.

* You must be Minnesotan to particiapte.
** limit one per artist regardless of number of works submitted, and artists who team to create a comic must share a box

Register ASAP for the 2012 Twin Cities Book Festival

If you plan to attend this year’s Twin Cities Book Festival (October 13) put on by our friends at Rain Taxi, you will want to register NOW. They are almost out of space. From what I have heard, if you don’t attend this event, you will regret it. Fortunately, this year there is no conflict with Fallcon (October 6)! Apologies for not getting the word out on this very cool opportunity sooner.

Greetings from Rain Taxi and the 2012 Twin Cities Book Festival! As you may know, registration is now open for this year’s Book Fest–forms are available on our website, here. What you don’t know yet is that this year, one of our prestigious guests happens to be a comics GIANT. We can’t tell you who it is just yet, but we do anticipate a substantial comics audience to attend, and we want to make sure that the Conspiracy has a chance to register for tables before they run out. We’ve set aside more space for this purpose in our new location, to boot!

Register soon to claim your space. No need to send payment now—we’ll invoice you. We encourage you simply to email us with the requested information on the attachment to reserve a table, but you’re welcome to fax or mail your registration form if you prefer.

Vote to Determine the Topic of the 2013 Comic Art Show at AE

Here are the proposed possible topics for the 2013 Comic Art show to be held at Altered Esthetics gallery in Minneapolis (based on verbal discussions and the online discussion here). (AE is hosting our Lutefisk Sushi Volume E show this November)

The option with the most votes will be the basis of next year’s project.

Please only vote if you intend to participate in the project. Note that you do NOT have to be a resident of Minnesota to participate in the 2013 project.

Here are the proposed topics:

Comic Music Project: cartoons about or inspired by music, packaged with record or cd

Poster Art Project: posters of huge cartoon canvasses

Public Domain Anthology: cartoon reinterpretations of public domain works (like Grimm fairy tales for example)

Moving Parts Show: Comics with a moving element (like pop-up mechanisms, for example)

Punchline: Anthology of comics about death

Mystery Box: Mysterious limited edition box full of mysterious comics and art.

Voting ends sometime on August 10th. Sometime shortly after that we will be taking nominations and voting on a featured artist for the show.

GO HERE TO VOTE.

Reminder: CITY PAGES COMIX ISSUE submissions due July 25


Don’t forget that your City Pages Comix Issue submissions are due next week on July 25! Full details can be found on CP’s website:
blogs.citypages.com

I’ve seen a few submissions and works-in-progress, and they look fantastic! Keep ’em coming, and let’s load up Mike’s inbox with great material!

And as with all of these events, please spread the word to anyone you think might be interested! The CP Comix Issue is the one of the best tools we have to show people what a thriving indie cartooning scene we have here in the Twin Cities.

-Kevin

Altered Esthetics 2013 Comic Art Project

Altered Esthetics gallery, our collaborators on numerous projects including the upcoming Lutefisk Sushi Volume E show, needs us to figure out what we want to do for the 2013 comic art show they will be hosting.

Here is a forum thread for discussing the possibilities.

A few possible options to get the discussion started:

1) Comic poster art show
2) Book anthology on a theme
3) “Mystery box” of mini-comics and other mysterious strangeness

Please only suggest ideas you are interested in actively helping make a reality. Thanks for participating!

The Art of Writing Comics Class at The Loft

There is an upcoming Art of Writing Comics class at the Loft being taught by Tom Spence on Tuesdays from July 10th to August 14th. Here is the info:

Comics are, most often, a blend of words and images interwoven to produce a whole story. There is a certain alchemy to the process of comic making. And while there is no right or wrong kind of comic, the storytellers must know what it is they want to accomplish on their pages. That is why a well-structured script is essential. It not only establishes a strong foundation for the words, but also for the images, and is essential for a story’s success. Through exercise, discussion, and analysis of comic professionals like writers Alan Moore, Warren Ellis, and Garth Ennis and writer/ artists like Craig Thompson and Brian Lee O’Malley, students will find the advantages of scripting their stories and learn the fundamentals of a complete comic narrative.

Go here to register.