Travelogue #1: Portland!

I had an amazing time in Portland! Here are some photos highlighting the trip:

 I traveled with Aya and Sara and had the best time! We had our first breakfast at Gravy, a favorite of mine since my first Portland trip. The roads were covered in cherry blossoms, it was gorgeous that weekend.

 We got together with Aya's studio mates/friends (Rabid Rabbit crew) and took a trip up the mountains to Timberline lodge, the lodge that appears in "The Shining"! It snows 11 months out of the year and we got to play in the snow and have a snowball fight in April. :)

 We then went to Edgefield where we hung out in front of the Little Red Shed (turns out to be a liquor shed/bar!) After warming back up in front of the fire pit, we got happy hour beer and tots and watched a $3 movie at McMenamins Theater.

To start Stumptown weekend off, we went to another favorite of mine for breakfast- Pine State Biscuits! Saturday started off a little slow at the festival but on Sunday it got a lot busier (to my surprise.) We also spotted the most adorable dog outside a vintage clothing shop right by our hotel! :))))

A trip to Portland isn't without a trip to Voodoo doughnuts! Anyone who knows me knows I'm not really a sweets person but I was curious about the Bacon Maple doughnut (from watching Anthony Bordain devour one on No Reservations) We ended up giving in to Rogue's Bacon Maple Ale to go with the doughnut, it was worth it!

We went to the after party at Pony Club gallery on Sunday night where we were able to catch the Ghost Show before it went down. The next day, I got to hang out with Kinoko! We had delicious vegetarian at Paradox Cafe and she gave me a tour of her school, PNCA. Afterwards I had really yummy warm cocktails at Tea Zone with the incredibly talented Angie Wang. It was the perfect last day before catching my evening flight home before heading to Toronto. Coming up- Travelogue #2: Toronto!

Stumptown Comics Fest 2012!!!

I'm exhibiting at Stumptown Comics Fest again this year! I'll have with me the new Find My Light book as well as copies of Don't Follow Me, making it's first appearance at PDX. I had such a blast last year and I know it's going to be even more fun this year. I'm excited to get re-acquainted with the new friends and Stumptown pals that I met last year. Also, this time around I'll be traveling there with some NY friends, Aya Kakeda and Sara Varon! Sara has a bit of history with Portland so it will be interesting to explore the city with her perspective. I'm so stoked to have some traveling companions this time around! Find us at table B-18 this weekend!

Attempting to pack in my tiny room!

All new postcards, just in time for Stumptown!

Also, there is going to be an after party at Pony Club Gallery on Sunday night after the Fest. The Ghost Show will still be hanging that night, be sure to stop by! I'll definitely be there. :)

"Ghost Show" at Pony Club

I recently made some new prints for this show! "Ghost Show" at Pony Club Gallery in Portland. It opens April 5th (tomorrow!) so if you're in PDX area, you don't want to miss this. I got to meet some of the Pony Club folks when I visited Portland for the first time last year and they are total sweethearts! I'm heading to PDX again for Stumptown this year (more details about that soon) and I am definitely gonna stop by the gallery once I'm there later this month.

Here are some snapshots of the ghost prints on the rack:

my second time printing gradient!

4 step color process for "Boo"

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/

Stumptown + stuff I got at MoCCA!

I am exhibiting next weekend at Stumptown Comic Fest in Portland, OR! You can find me at table e-5 (map here) where I will have all of my screen-printed books, poster prints, totes (while supplies last!) and much more. Stumptown 2011 will also mark the debut of my brand new book, titled "hot + cold" Be sure to stop by and take a look! And if you love it it will be available for purchase. :)

my new book!

Here's some of the swag I got from MoCCA Fest 2011. Highlights include Ray Sohn's Pyramid Lake, Eamon Espey's "Death Deals", some of the "diary" series by Gabriel Bell, a bunch of square mini comics from the Finnish comic collective, screen-printed + b&w mixed minis from Alabaster, a fully screen-printed little book gifted to me by Jake Armstrong titled "What me and Tommy saw". The newest Secret Prison. Sammy Harkham's "Cricket"! Which I wanted but missed during Brooklyn Comic Fest back in December. And a Noel Freibert comic "Mr. Cellar's Attic" with screen-printed cover. :) "Secret Victories" by Victor Kerlow. Plus these precious letter-pressed coasters by Nick Iluzada! I don't even use coasters but I had to have these, I don't even know if I will use these as coasters, but they are super sweeeeet!

This was my biggest purchase at MoCCA, a screen-print poster by Sakura Maku. I've loved her work for a long time now, and I am really happy to have this!

New book in progress + Spring conventions

Some exciting news, I will be exhibiting at Stumptown and TCAF this year! I've been extremely busy trying to push out my newest silkscreen book, titled "Hot + Cold" and hopefully I'll have some copies ready for both conventions.

Here are some progress photos of the drawing separation for my book. This is the biggest that I'll be printing, so I'm really nervous! I'm basically printing the entire book on each single uncut piece of Rives BFK, double sided, which I will cut up with a Guillotine and put together as a book afterwards. It will be 5 color processes, approx. 4.3"x6" and 24 pages (half accordion).
I'm hoping to get all the separations done in 2-2.5 weeks, and all the printing and book-binding done by beginning of April.

Still working on the top accordion. So far I have the color separations done for 1/3 of the book.

close up of some line work.

Thanks to my roommate Wade for the photos!