BCGF + GR Post-it show

I have a placement again at this year's Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Festival! Last year was overwhelming, with such a crazy turn out, and this year will be amazing as well. The festival will take place on Saturday, December 3rd, at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with panels and satellite events going on at Union Pool nearby. For the incredible list of exhibitors and other details check out the BCGF site.

I did some post-it art for a show at Giant Robot LA, which opens December 10 and will remain on display until the end of the month for the shopping season. Doing these post-its were a lot of fun! With dozens and dozens of cartoonists involved, if you're in the area be sure not to miss this!

Go here for Post-it show 7's facebook event page.

Whitney Museum's Zine Day event.

Here are a couple of pics from the Whitney Museum's zine day event, organized by Desert Island, which took place a couple Saturdays ago, October 15. It was a kid friendly event so the museum did a cool project where all of the participating artists had a stack of screenprinted individual black and white illustration available (courtesy of the Museum) for attendees to collect for free and staple into their very own coloring book, pretty neat!

photos courtesy of Desert Island

APE and San Francisco Recap

San Francisco was beautiful as always! The weather was perfect this time around. APE was so much fun this year, I thought it was my 4th consecutive year but Jon Vermilyea told me it's my 5th?? I am completely losing track. APE is always awesome and I don't think I will ever stop exhibiting. Here is my recap of the trip, photo diary style:

I had the pleasure of hosting two lovely young ladies this time around. Pictured here are my friends Jess and Diana on top of a hill.

We got tacos at one of my all time favorite Mexican places, El Metate in Potrero/Mission area.

Here is Jon and Hilary playing some pinball at the Lasp Gasp warehouse.

Jess and Diana help me set up my table!

Post-APE dim sum with my ladies!

I did really well at APE! I sold out every advanced copy I brought of my new "don't follow me." I will have more copies available next weekend at Whitney Museum's very own Zine Day(!) as well as Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest coming up in December in Brooklyn, NY.

New book for APE "don't follow me"

Here are some quick photos of what I've been caught up with making during the past week.





About to catch my flight to LA shortly, and spending this weekend in SF! I will have advanced copies of "don't follow me" available at APE this weekend (fresh off the racks), along with the debut of "hot+cold". I will also have new prints available at my table, if you're in the Bay Area be sure to stop by!

October Events

Plenty of things going on in October! The show I was in at Alternative Cafe in Monterey is traveling to My Plastic Heart gallery in the Lower East Side in Manhattan! The show opens September 30th and runs throughout October.

Unfortunately I won't be able to make it to the opening reception because I will be in San Francisco exhibiting at Alternative Press Expo the weekend of October 1st and 2nd. It's going to be a great time as usual! I'm always excited whenever I visit my hometown, beautiful San Francisco. I have a different table placement this year, find me at table #540.

I'm also participating in a zine day at the Whitney Museum organized by Desert Island, which takes place October 15 Saturday afternoon. It's a kid friendly event and all the artists will have a special made print available for attendees to collect into a book. Not to be missed!

Philly photos + PACC

I had a great time in Philly! Here are some photos from my trip:

My friend Megan in awe of the Philadelphia train station architecture.

The next day we stood in line for Philly cheese steaks from Pat's and Geno's, which are across the street from each other. Here I am standing in the long line which stretched out into the middle of the road! Blocking traffic at some points. The verdict was split between the two places, you can't go wrong with either, also cheese wiz is the best cheese!

Here we are walking through Independence Square.

View from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, watching people reenact the Rocky scene.

My table at Philly Alt Comic Con! Me and Jess behind the table, Diana is on the side sporting my tote bag. :)

The view behind my table.

Heading into Monk's Cafe for some Belgium fare with my friends Deo and Pete for our last dinner in Philly!

Lastly, here is a photo of show taken from the PACC blog post. Go there for more great photos and a good bucket list of what the festival is all about.

Super DIY, super fun.

Philly Alt Comic Con 2011!

I am currently preparing for my trip to Philly Alt Comic Con (PACC) next weekend and I am so frikkin' excited about it! I am going through a lot of firsts this year, this will be my first time stepping into Philly (not just passing by it like when I went to Lancaster back in 2008 for a gallery show of mine) and I'll be road tripping with a group of friends. I will have a full table with plenty of books and prints available. I'm predicting it's going to be a crazy outta control good time, possibly this kind of good time:

printing tote bags

Don't get squirted! Or do. Yesterday I went grocery shopping right after I printed and the cashier nearly freaked out because she thought my arm was bleeding but I was just squirted with red...

I still have a hard time printing tote bags but I think they came out ok this time around. It's hard because the paint has to be thick but all I want to do is water it down, but you would run the risk of the image bleeding...

Also, bags take longer to print because I am re-registering each individual bag for every single color, so much work! Here I am registering to print blue, making sure everything is aligned.

Yellow paint with transparencies. This was the easiest separation to print. If all the colors are mixed right it has vibrant results.

Before all the printing begins I iron all the bags, wrinkles in the fabric gets in the way of the paint. I use a blow-dryer to each bag for every layer of color that is printed.

All this paper I use because some way or another I mess up printing the line in-between. Maybe one day I'll get to use one of those carousels, but this will do for now!

"Bad Luck Club" opens July 8th in Monterey!

I will have two new pieces, including the print featured in the post below, in the show "Bad Luck Club" at Alternative Cafe in Monterey, CA. The show is curated by my friend Aya Kakeda, whose work I adore! If you are in the west coast, stop by the beautiful town of Monterey and check out the show! The opening reception will take place on the evening of July 8th, from 7-10PM. The show will remain on display until August 7th.

CMYK guide for "Forest Fire" print

With my own custom CMYK colors, of course. If magenta was a diluted rocket red, and blacK is instead browN. CRYN? Maybe not as good of an acronym. :)





"Forest Fire" is going on exhibit in an upcoming gallery show, which opens in July in Monterey, CA. Details very soon!

drawing jam

Stumptown Comic Fest drawing jam!

featuring: Ben Catmull, Kinoko, Jennifer Parks, Theo Ellsworth, Amy Kuttab, Jesse Recklaw, Zack Soto, T Edward Bak, Sean Christensen, and myself!

Recap: TCAF and Toronto!

my table at TCAF!

I had an amazing time in Toronto!! I met sooooo many new people, ate so much amazing food and experienced some new beers. Toronto is definitely a place I want to revisit again and again. :)
TCAF was an incredible time. It reminded me of Brooklyn Comic Fest a bit, except larger scale. The free admission definitely makes a huge difference. This festival had a diverse and friendly crowd without being overwhelming the way Brooklyn Fest was. My tote bags did surprisingly well, I'm used to only selling maybe a few, but I actually ran out of all the Lemon + Lime totes that I brought, I even had a few people asking for them after they ran out! :O
My comics and silkscreen books also did really well. I found TCAF a more enjoyable festival than Stumptown, but this is my first time exhibiting both events that have evolved so much over the decade. I would love to do both festivals again if I get the chance!

Having tex-mex brunch at Sneaky Dee's! With Irme, Taylor and their friends Agatha and Laura (pictured below)

The Dunking Donuts of Toronto, or as they call it, "Timmies" This was Deo's dream come true.

Exploring the Distillery District where we had a sake tasting, some artisanal gelato, and a cheese sampling at a place that imports from Quebec! Plus we strolled around with the cutest dog in the world, Murray!

Embarking onto Kensington Market! Where we had family style tacos at "El Trompo"

Post-TCAF karaoke-ing! Pictured here are Hellen Jo, Calvin Wong, Ryan Sands, and Jen Wang.

This is the infamous Canadian dish called Poutine, consisting of french fries slathered with gravy and topped with cheese curds!! This is the classic. Next time I visit I want to try poutine with pulled pork on top...or bacon....! The accompanying drink is called a Ceaser, which is Canada's bloody mary, except it's spicier and more savory, the extra ingredient is clam juice! yumm yum!

Photos above (basically all the good looking ones) taken by my close friend Deo, he is the best traveling companion!

Portland recap + TCAF

I'm tabling at TCAF this year for the first time and I'm so excited! I'm also stoked about visiting Toronto Canada for the first time, I am getting there via 11 hour bus ride (!!!) and I might have a buddy traveling with me to explore Toronto with. (yippeeeee!!!)

outside of Guapo comics and coffee

Portland was AMAZING.... I had the best time, thanks to some new friends who were incredible hosts. Stumptown was an interesting convention, I've never seen so many pirates in one place, although Amy (of Pony Club) mentioned to me that the pirate thing was something new this year. Anyway, the screen-print posters were a hit. You can now find some of my prints at Pony Club Gallery!



Here I am at my table, photo taken by Jen Vaughn. She did a great recap of the fest on The Beat. One guy bought my new "hot + cold" book as a wedding present for his friend who, if I remember correctly, is an architect getting married to his other friend who is a poet. I thought it was very touching! And yes, my books can make a great wedding present! :)

Portland is all kinds of wonderful. There were instances where I could see myself living there, even! But instead I think I will visit there, a lot! Here are some highlights of my trip:

some of the yummiest biscuits n gravy I've ever had at Pine State Biscuits on Belmont!

Bicycle fencing :)

any coffee lovin' town is my kinda town!

All the way North at Cathedral Park, where the grass is so tall...

Walking through Irving Park on my way to Mississippi St.

For more photos of my Portland adventure check out my flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jentong/sets/72157626557067668/