Day five has come and with it the close of my time spent with Matthew Sheret in residence at the Central Library.

Our comic is drafted, six pages brewing. Today I have been working on the visual development of our central character.

So, it gives me much pleasure to introduce her to you as we depart. An exchange of people (factual and fictional) to barter with the melancholy of goodbyes.

Say hello to Wendy Lewis…

The completed comic will feature in next year’s Thought Bubble Anthology. With a little inking, colouring and waiting the time will fly and Wendy’s adventure will be told.

So for now I’d just like to say a heartfelt thank you to Lisa and Clark for asking me to be Artist in Residence. It’s been an amazing week. All-time Number 1.
Matt was the perfect choice as writer, an incredibly talented gentleman. His skills with words, narrative and ideas have been a privilege to see in action. I am a language junkie, and he is the language master.

Onwards to the Con. I hope to see you there!

We had a fair few visitors yesterday, all eager to talk comics with Kristyna and myself. Sadly the school workshops we had planned this week fell through, but it’s still been a pleasure to chat to people about what we’re up to when they’ve popped in.

Yesterday’s search for an interesting table set up was a success – drop by the Thought Bubble Convention to see it in action – and Kristyna’s work on character designs continued well into the evening. The comic’s coming along splendidly.

On top of that I’ve been gearing up for the academic conference tonight, gathering my thoughts on materiality in comics, the future of comics and what more I can do as a writer and publisher to achieve that future. Lofty ambitions and subjects for a panel, sure, but I have faith that Tim Dant and Tom Humberstone can take us there.

This residency has been five fabulous days. Being given the opportunity to think about comics and stories without anything else to bother me has been a treat, to say the least. Huge thanks to Lisa and Clark from Thought Bubble for having us, and to Nabil and the Travelling Man crew for making our time out of the library so much fun.

You’ll see our comic in next year’s Thought Bubble Anthology, although if I’m very very lucky I might get a chance to work with Kristyna at some point before then.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you on the convention floor!

Still without title, our story now structurally exists over 6 pages…

I feel quite self-conscious publicly sharing this part of my process. It’s rough, ugly and completely indecipherable to anyone but me. I hope these scrawls read as artistic shorthand and not mind-melting mayhem.

KB

Last night Kristyna and I had the pleasure of Dr Geof Banyard’s company. To readers Geof’s best known for his comic Fetishman, but to any UK convention attendee Geof will be ‘the unbelievably friendly guy with the awesome display cases and vintage trunks on his table’.

As a trader, I find a lot to love in Geof’s approach to shows. I’m very used to seeing people sat somewhat vacantly behind tables – often the same people who will complain loudly about not selling very much stuff. There are also a healthy number of people who really engage with passers by, even those who won’t buy things from the stall. Timothy Winchester is a force of nature at these things, and Kieron Gillen‘s patter during his Phonogram days was a sight to see.

But Geof brings something different. He really dresses his table and his stock up, and turns the stall into a little spectacle. People are intrigued by the set up, and very quickly get sucked into the beautiful collection of work he brings to events up and down the country.

He’s also an avid drinker of tea. Geof will be bringing a museum of artefacts from his fictional organisation The First Tea Company to the Royal Armories Hall for this weekend’s show, which will be a treat for all.

All this has inadvertently persuaded me to go looking for a few things to make the Paper Science table look a bit more dynamic at Thought Bubble. As Kristyna finishes up her thumbnails and starts drafting our comic I’ll be perusing the scrap shops of Leeds to find just the right thing for my newspapers.

Because being engaging at shows like Thought Bubble is incredibly important. Whether that’s through displays or conversation, doing anything to make people a little bit warmer about comics and their creators is entirely worthwhile.

We have a story. We’re in a library, surrounded by stories, so in many respects getting a story was the easy part. Yesterday was spent getting two days of conversation and plotting into a lean, seven-page first draft. Heaven help the spell-checker.

We finished the job this morning, scrambling up to our spot in the library and tapping out the final few captions. As I type, Kristyna’s redrafting her thumbnails, scoping out space we might have for extra panels and marginalia, as well as those moments where I might have crammed a little too much in.

After which comes the hard part. We’re casing the joint for neat reference shots as well as fonts and copywriting styles. Kristyna’s been soaking up some of the building’s unique offerings for an illustrator, while I keep burying my nose old books because they’re just Too Damn Interesting.

If I’m honest, I find some of the referencing process a real challenge. Some of the commercial work I’ve scripted hasn’t required it, the briefs have been too specific, while the more, uh, ‘emo’ of my other scripts are a little too solipsistic to require it.

But a project like this – like most comics – demands it. Whether it’s a stack of borrowed and bought texts or a huge folder of photo-references, you need exactly enough immersion in a space to develop a shorthand for how to describe it and how to portray it. And it’s very very hard, while also being very very satisfying.

After a second immersive day of writing down, sketching up and soaking in, I wanted to make sense of all the stimuli swimming around in my head.

In a building full of collections, we have been collecting. Images, words and thoughts. Digesting and brewing into something new. Here are a few photos that are fresh from the cranium coffee pot, poured into a possible colour palette for our Residency comic.

Hello Thinkers and Bubblers,

This week is festival week and it brings with it book launches, screenings, signings, exhibitions, amazing guests and, of course, The Con of Cons.

The festival is also equipped with an Artist/Writer Residency. So, here I am, typing as your rather grateful and humbled Artist in Residence – Kristyna Baczynski.

As part of my role as Artist in Residence I am exhibiting a collection of my comics and art at Travelling Man, Leeds and have created an installation for their window space. It took a pile of gold poscas, emptied marker pens, cardboard boxes and several papercuts but the show was ready to launch on Monday.

Here’s a peek at my window installation…

And a few snaps of my ‘Comics, Creatures and Curios’ art exhibition, which runs all week at Travelling Man, Leeds store (where the staff are awesome and the comics are many).

As of today, I am working with Writer in Residence Matthew Sheret in Leeds Central Library (above the Art Gallery) to produce a narrative comic for next year’s Thought Bubble Anthology.

Thumbnails and scripts are being drafted, characters are forming from murky pencil sketches and a story is stirring. Feel free to drop in and see us at work!

I head out of Euston on the 07:35, whipping past my flat before slingshotting around Alexandra Palace and escaping London’s orbit. The train’s route treats me to rolling vistas of terraced houses and foggy fields for a couple of hours before reaching Leeds, City of Comics.

I only know Leeds because of Thought Bubble. I’ve made the journey up the last few Novembers, and as a result I assume that even in April the town centre is filled with Christmas lights and small-press illustrators desperately seeking a Nando’s. I’m not sure this week is going to dispel that.

Kristyna and I started our residency yesterday, exploring the library for inspiration before meandering out to a few second hand shops. It’s a well-known fact that both of these places contain time and space-shattering portals; in the latter you’ll find a dozen routes to Narnia and more rooms than appears possible. In the former you have L-Space.

L-Space is Terry Pratchett’s name for a thing that has always existed. It’s the route the books let you take, connecting all libraries to one another, whether real or imagined. That’s why, from a certain angle, all library staircases lead to Hogwarts.

Our residency takes place somewhere in L-Space. My notes from our scribbling sessions are varied, things like

* Club of Queer Trades – Chesterton (?)
* Bird Bomb
* Heraldry, tropes, imagery associated with places – poses and gestures and meanings.
* Radios, spaces toys, “tin anything”

On another page I wrote “Lon Chaney – Buster Keaton” so passionately the ink appears to have bleed through the thick paper of my notebook.

Delightfully I’ve no idea where any of this may lead. Although I’ve published Kristyna in Paper Science a few times our conversations have only ever taken place in snippets at conventions. Yesterday was a tremendous ice-breaker that will help swing my writing into focus over the next couple of days.

That or we’ll get lost somewhere between Foreign Languages and Art History.

***

First things first – Exhibitor table news!

Tables in Saviles Hall are now completely sold out. A new record for us, all the tables in that hall are now booked, however, we still have limited numbers left to book in Royal Armouries Hall for our 2 day convention. Early bird prices for these remaining tables expire on August 1st (after which time they will rise), so act fast if you don’t want to miss out and snag yourself a bargain! Full details can be found on the website.

***

Second item of business – Leeds Graphic Novel Awards 2011!

Last year saw the inaugural Leeds Graphic Novel Awards ceremony take place (won by Dave Shelton for his book Good Dog, Bad Dog) as part of the Leeds Book Awards. Specifically aimed at books suitable for 11-14 year olds, this winner is chosen by pupils at selected schools around Leeds, who then get to attend the awards ceremony and meet the creators. We’ve just released the nominations shortlist for this year, and if you’d like your school to take part in this or future events please email deborah.moody@leeds.gov.uk.

***

Tertiary phase – Northern Sequential Art Competition 2011!

Following on from the success of last year’s first ever Northern Sequential Art Competition, we’re pleased to present 2011′s offering in association with our good friends over at Travelling Man comic stores. Winning entries will be published in our next anthology (publication date TBC in 2012), and there are other fabulous prizes to be attained.

Full details and T&Cs can be found on the website, but there’s a brief run down below.

This year’s competition is open to artists and writers in the UK, and entries must be a single, self-contained comic book page, with no fewer than 6 panels, A3 in size, portrait format and must contain the title in the top left corner.

Judges will include Matt Smith (editor of 2000 AD) and Steve Wacker (Marvel’s Spider-Man Editor). Deadline for entries is Monday 31st October.

***

Finally – Convention Tickets!

Tickets for 2011′s convention are selling like cakes tending towards maximum entropy, so act fast if you’d like to be one of the lucky ones (first 500 weekend pass sales) to get guaranteed entry to our funtastical after-party!

Tickets are available for purchase through our website, or can be collected in person from Travelling Man comic shops, or OK Comics in Leeds.

***

And that’s it! All the news. ALL OF IT. We’ll be announcing this year’s festival programme soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that, shouldn’t be too hard to spot as it’s going to be huge. Seriously, when we said this year’s festival was going to be our biggest yet we really weren’t kidding. Cushty.

- Clark

Back after an exhaustingly good time at the MCM Expo down in the big ol’ city known as Londinium. While there we announced some new guests for TBF11, and generally had a jolly old time with Team Comics, as well as handing out some lovely new Thought Bubble flyers along the way. But we are now ensconced in the lofty spires of Thought Bubble Towers once again, and we have work to do, so let’s get this party/blog post started!

First up – tickets for this year’s convention are now up on sale, first 500 weekend passes sold confer guaranteed entry to our party on the Saturday night, and full details as to pricing and purchase options can be found on the website! We’ve changed things up a bit with the festival and convention expansion, so be sure to read all the details – makes life a lot easier for everyone.

***

Next up, news of a competition for all of you out there with their sights set on being the next big thing in comics. The publisher Myriad Editions has launched a competition for aspiring graphic novelists and are looking for a first-time GN in progress, with the winner working with the publisher to complete the title. The writer who comes first in the competition also stands a chance of being offered a contract and seeing their title published.

On the judging panel will be author Ian Rankin, Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell, author and cartoonist Ed Hillyer, graphic novelists Hannah Berry and Bryan Talbot, and Myriad Editions creative director Corinne Pearlman.

Full details on the Myriad Editions website.

***

News has also reached us of a new arts event in Leeds taking place this month! The north’s first applied arts fair, LOOP Arts Fair, will take place June 17th-19th at Marshalls Mill, Leeds.

Keynote speaker on the Friday is James Jarvis “Born in London in 1970 and raised on a diet of Richard Scarry, Hergé, Judge Dredd and Albert Camus, Jarvis studied Illustration at the University of Brighton and the Royal College of Art, graduating in 1995. Since then he has gone on to establish himself as a graphic artist of international repute.In 1998 Jarvis designed the iconic toy figure ‘Martin’, unwittingly helping start the ‘designer’ toy phenomenon.” And they’ve also got open studios, talks, live art, workshops, printshops from TOY, Analogue Books, Drew Millward, Lizzie Stewart, Best Joined Up, Kibbo Kift and more! Tickets are on sale through their website.

***

Finally, we’re welcoming a new Friend of Thought Bubble into the fold! This week’s super friend is the awesome Kayla Hillier, a Canadian comic creator now living here in Blighty. There’s a selection of her work below (click the images to embiggen), and a description of the lady herself in her own words under that. Give them a gander, eh!

Kayla Marie Hillier has been livin’ large for a little more than a quarter of a century. She hails from a small town – nay, village – of 600 people called Stoney Point or Pointe-aux-Roches which is found in the most southern part of the Canadian province of Ontario.

She spent 18 years of her life there where she became BFFs with the internet although she was limited by her dial up connection. Shhhhh shhhhhh beep bop boo beep shhhhhhh-

She left the nest to pursue “higher education” in the Niagara region at Brock University where she achieved a degree in both Philosophy and Film and managed to write well over 100 articles for the Canadian University Press. She left Toronto about a year ago to return to Manchester, England – as the country managed to woo her with an impressive display of overcast skies.

She digs comics, so she makes some of her own. Her work includes the now completed webcomic GALAVANT which documents her travels throughout the UK over a period of 3 months – she’s also involved in Julia Scheele’s 69 Love Songs, Illustrated project.

Kayla’s one of my favourite people in comics, and I’d really recommend checking her stuff out, or come along to Thought Bubble 2011 and say hi to her in person!

***

That’s all for now, back soon with more TBF11 news and other shenanigans.
- Clark