Hey Finfans!,

I’m SO GLAD you finally get to see…well, who is she? More mystery for next time!

I’m actually very excited to announce a SXSW InteractiviZINE!  Next Friday, March 12th I will attend my first SXSW (South by Southwest) Interactive Festival in Austin, TX. It is a five day festival of panels on media, interconnectivity, video games, start-ups, websites plus the impact AND use of technology. As a bit of a gadget girl, I’m frickin’ excited to attend!

However, this convention is in no way cheap. So I am asking you wonderful readers and friends of learning to donate to my SXSW trip and in return I will post my notes, photos and ephemera from the panels online! Everyone benefits when everyone gives a little. I’ll be accepting donations via Paypal from today until March 26th when I return to Vermont . The donations may start at $5 and up because I’m trying to reach about $800! And for the special people who donate, I am sending out a special InteractiviZINE with new comics about the experience, panel notes and a screen printed cover! The zine will serve as a tactile version of the online notes back to the gills with extra goodies!

My usual note taking is teeming with sketches, diagrams and information.  For examples of my prolific picture taking, feel free to visit my Flickr sets. This would be an especially great gift for you, a friend or relative who are unable to make it out to SXSW Interactive this year. I’ll post my SXSW schedule and the panels I’ll be attending shortly! Please click the DONATE link at the top of the site, donate any amount over $5 and get ready to LEARN!

Love,

Jen

Hey all! Due to some SCARY ass winds kicking our power off, I reverted to a grayscale style webcomic strip! Seriously, the mountains were shrouded in darkness and as I walked up to the school, the lights flickered out like in Constantine. The lights keep dimming here so my time is precious. But on to the fact I’ll be in NEW YORK this weekend!

At Silent Barn in Queens is a mini-comic con for Center for Cartoon Studies’ kids! It’s located at the following address:

915 Wyckoff Avenue, Ridgewood, NY

The booksigning and tabling will be from 6-8pm (4:30 is Page Building with Robyn Chapman, 5-6 is inking demos with powerhouses, Colleen Frakes and Jon Chad) and for more info about the event check out the radass Facebook page. That’s right, Radass Facebook. Come out and see us, buy some comics or just chat me up! I’m excited about FRIENDS, FOOD and FOOTLOOSIN’! I’m out before this power flicks out and more fan art plus full style Mermaid Hostel next week!

-Jen

The other work was for fun to give to my good friend and fellow cartoonist, Nomi Kane. We were watching the Last Unicorn and I was thus inspired to make something with us plus some ‘corns! If you are interested at all in Unicorns, the Red Bull or some sweetass America music, you’ll be happy to know that IDW is coming out with a six-part comic book in April! My friend also runs a Twitter feed with great Last Unicorn Art finds so if you want to know more, follow ‘im!

More fan art to come!

WHAT?! Carlos, you’re not rest of the teaser from last week! *Cue mob* But you are very cute! For the last tier (line of panels) I attempted playing with time and how to stretch or speed it up. Let me know if it works!

Wowzers, was this week so much fun. Darwin Day, Ladies’s Night, sending out Valentine’s, another Ladies’ Night, eating my way off the highway! You’ll be happy to know that the fan art has started to trickle in. Please enjoy the very first by my fellow student Jesse Mead (who is a first year at the Center for Cartoon Studies). A Reverse Merman:

The second work of fan art and first based on a character of mine is by the always illustrious Zack Giallongo, who has new issue of Grune (#2) for pre-order and is working ever so hard on his impending First Second graphic novel, Broxo. Zack is one of my favorite cartoonists of 2009 AND 2010 so watch out!

Thank God for Jason Week and Hot Chip’s new album, One Life Stand. Suffice to say there was a lot of dancing, especially to the new single! Talk to you OH so soon!

-Jen

Hola, mis amigos!

Please enjoy the strip today, we are so close to something I can taste it! I hope there’s not blood in the water! What is happening?! Tune in next week for thrills, chills, and gills!

Also, I’d like to commend Jason Week at the webcomic, Billy the Dunce, for breaking his four panel pattern! Sorta, well you’ll see. And since I’ve seen a lot of playlists being passed around I’ll instead give you the books I’ve been a-reading this week!

The Shape of Content by Ben Shane

Smile by Raina Telgemeier

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin

40 Years with Mister Oswald by Russ Johnson

That’s only two comic books! Half! I’m balancing it all quite well. Lastly and most importantly, please take a moment to think kindly or pray for my Mom. She was in a car accident today and the week started out rocky as it was. She’s not hurt other than jarred but it’s hard to give hugs from 2000 miles away. Thank you.

Love, Jen

P.S. I’m going to mail out those super sweet Valentines this afternoon, did you get your address to me yet? It is open to anyone who wants one!

P.S. I promise not to do anything creepy like crash on your couch or send you excessive amounts of expired coupons for poodle haircuts.

WOOT! New strip and we close in on the mystery (and some architecture). I’ll write more soon but Laura Terry is borrowing my computer to talk to Alison Bechdel while I dance in the background. Hahaha.

Also, reference photo a la Jason Week! I do a lot of laying across chairs to simulate swimming, it’s silly to see me. You can see my red pants below.

-Jen

Fin Friday is HERE! And bam, is that some 90s-era neon pink ink I used this week for fun. I’m moving on Sunday so I did not ‘layer’ the color and line work like I normally do but slapped the ink on top.

Many, many thanks to Beth Hetland who is not only an radass cartoonist but also has housed my hobo butt for the last week. We’ve spent many a night giggling and drawing until the wee hours. She runs a book club where she sends you her recent comics and art per semester for a reasonably fee. You should JOIN because it rocks andyou never know when a certain fishy artist will show up in there as well!

I’m off to learn, pack and draw until my heart explodes! Also, feel free to leave comments below or join my totally awesome, completely relevant FACEBOOK FAN CLUB. Heeee!

-Jen