Recap: Curls Studio’s Year of 2014

Jan02
by on January 2, 2015 at 10:45 AM
Posted In: Uncategorized

Wow. I can’t believe 2014 is over and we’ve recently rang in 2015. Last year was pretty crazy and ended so quickly. I wanted to highlight some of 2014’s best moments. 

Overall 2014 brought us around 16 full days exhibiting at comic conventions. I did elect to cut back on some tour dates this year and concentrate on work, but looking at the list now it seems we only took out one that required travel and expanded to shows that are closer to the homebase.

2014 TOUR

FEB 13-28 • cARToons Exhibit at UDC
MAR 8 • Smudge! Expo
APR 18-20 • Awesome Con DC
MAY 3 • Free Comic Book Day Big Planet Comics 
MAY 10 • ANS Sci-Fi & Comic-Con
MAY 17 • Gaithersburg Book Festival
MAY 31 • Cartoonists Draw Blood
JUL 20 • SuperNoVa Comicon
JUL 26 • Signing at Fantom Comics
SEP 5-7 • Baltimore Comic-Con 
SEP 13-14 • Small Press Expo 
OCT 9-12 • New York Comic Con 
OCT 18 • Annapolis Comic-Con 
OCT 22 • Design & Doodle Workshop

The main highlights for me in 2014 included:

• Fun energy at Awesome Con DC in April

• Being voted (for the second year in a row) as runner-up for Best Visual Artist by Washington City Paper readers

• Taking part in the second “Cartoonists Draw Blood” blood drive with the American Red Cross at Seekers Church in May

• Having a published Adventure Time #29 cover

• Editing issues #8 and #9 of Magic Bullet, Washington, DC’s comics newspaper

• I now have Instagram and Vine

• New York Comic-Con was our biggest and most successful show ever

• Asked to lead the Design & Doodle Workshop during DC Design Week

• Amber Love and I will have a comic in RISE: Comics Against Bullying, geared to be distributed free by organizations such as GLAAD, Stand for the Silent, and Prism Comics

• The Carolyn & Joe Show podcast also recorded a new episode for each week of 2014 and we now have over 300 episodes

 

My goals for 2015 are to focus and not get distracted by outside forces (see 2015 New Year’s Resolutions from Panel Patter and Pals). I hope to be more active in social media because I spent a full year not posting to any outlet during weekdays because of a demanding job. I’m still working full-time, but I now have more freedom to think and contribute to the world and plan to use that liberty. Thanks for keeping up with Curls Studio and our activities. 

I hope you had a great holiday season and let’s see each other in 2015 and beyond!

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Illustrations for NASW ACI

Dec22
by on December 22, 2014 at 12:28 PM
Posted In: Uncategorized

Earlier this year I worked on a freelance design project with Anne Likes Red. I was contacted to create and illustrate several characters for a postcard set, animated promotional video, and trade show display for NASW Assurance Services, Inc. focusing on professional liability insurance for social workers.

Watch the animated film here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEGy0vqduZY



Let’s Work Together!
If you are interested in my illustration and/or design skills, please email Carolyn Belefski at info@curls-studio.com. View my portfolio: http://www.behance.net/CarolynBelefski
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RISE: Comics Against Bullying Kickstarter

Oct28
by on October 28, 2014 at 11:15 AM
Posted In: Uncategorized


There is a Kickstarter anthology project that I am a part of called RISE: Comics Against Bullying, which ends in 5 days. As of this writing, the project is funded a bit over 75%. 

This comics series dealing with bullying is geared to be distributed free by organizations such as GLAAD, Stand for the Silent, and Prism Comics.

The story I am illustrating is written by Amber Love. It’s about the consequences of teens who feel they are mature enough to take nude selfies and the damage it does to one girl and her loved ones.

There are several other artists and writers to check out as well who are working on this project with their own stories.

To find out more, please read Amber’s blog post about the project and pledge towards the Kickstarter to make it become a reality. 

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Recap: Design & Doodle Workshop

Oct23
by on October 23, 2014 at 5:37 PM
Posted In: Uncategorized

On Wednesday, October 22, 2014, I led the Design & Doodle Workshop during DC Design Week. The event was hosted by AIGA DC, General Assembly, and DC Fem Tech. Only 25 people could attend and the registration sold out in less than a day. Even the wait list was sold out, so I knew the attendees were paying close attention to the design community and that means people are craving this type of creativity. 

After introductions, I talked about doodling techniques and showed the attendees some warm up hand exercises to get loose. I have two main hand exercises – one I call finger taps and the other is more wrist based I call CM Punk. Oftentimes, I believe designers are stiff and it’s an experience I’ve had to overcome and am constantly working on. Not only are we sitting at desks for ten hours a day staring at a screen, but we sometimes work under rigid guidelines and dun dun dun… the horrible (not so horrible) grid!

Only one of the attendees had decided to draw digitally, but the others brought their own supplies of drawing tools and paper. After our decision about drawing, I learned that there was some interest in drawing apps, but most people felt like drawing with physical objects was the way to go. I mostly do linework on paper, then scan, and color digitally with a tablet. 

A few years ago I did a project called Sketch Before Sleep where I drew each night for 365 days. All of those sketches were done digitally. I showed a film clip of all the Sketch Before Sleep sketches. I had not shown the film since 2011 at the GV Expo, but it’s now available online here.

 

The two prompts I gave at Design & Doodle were selecting two words from my “Inspiration Owl” and showing the vintage novelty doodle pad from David Jablow’s Do It Yourself Doodler Project. Free issues of Magic Bullet #9 and postcards promoting my comic strip “Curls” were given out as well.

 

The rest of the evening was spent doodling and several of the attendees showed me their sketches and had one-on-one talks with me about their drawing skills. It was great to meet some new faces and also recap with Anthony and Mila from the AIGA board. Thanks to everyone who attended the event.

More photos can be found on the Curls Studio Facebook page.

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Recap: New York Comic Con 2014

Oct15
by on October 15, 2014 at 5:58 PM
Posted In: Uncategorized

New York Comic Con 2014 was a sweet success for Curls Studio and by all reports it seems like NYCC has now surpassed San Diego as the most attended comic convention in America, as NYCC reported 151,000 people. There is no denying NYCC has majorly grown in the course of one year. 

In previous years, Thursday was slow and was only for those with VIP or special pro badges. This year there was already a crowd as soon as we arrived at the convention with our cart to set-up at noon on Thursday. Of course our morning was filled with packing the car in the dark morning light of Virginia, getting gas, and withering the New Jersey Turnpike until we pulled into the Javits Center to unload. The night before we recorded our podcast with Teresa Roberts Logan from Laughing Redhead Studio who exhibited with us at booth #1162 for the second year in a row. Next year we should leave a bit earlier to be fully prepared for the noon crowd charge and it was a pleasant surprise to have a successful Thursday. 

I noticed several vendors had already given away their free promotions by Friday. For example, Cirque du Soleil had tote bags that did not replenish for the weekend crowds and Ghostery was giving out blue ghost stress balls that were gone quickly. I don’t think anyone anticipated the Thursday crowds.

 
 
As an exhibitor it is hard to see the scope of the show, attend panels, or even step away to go to the bathroom. This year I got to see most of the show by arriving early on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday before the show started. I was most impressed with the Weta Digital booth which featured a gigantic resting dragon. The dragon’s eyelids would slightly open to reveal glowing eyes as if visitors were interrupting a nap.
 
 
Adventure Time #29, the exclusive cover I did for Boom! Studios did very well. I also premiered new Comics Heart t-shirts available in aqua and asphalt in sizes XS, S, M, L, and XL as well as the new Sad Fish button collection. I plan to have both available online shortly, but you can email me at info[at]curls-studio.com if you’d like to purchase!
 

I enjoyed my time on Friday signing at the National Cartoonists Society booth. It was great to meet people interested in what we do and they were selling special t-shirts as well. On Friday evening we also got to see the “Juanjo Guarnido in the Freak Kitchen” panel. He is the artist of one of my favorite books, Blacksad.

 
 
On Saturday I tried to see a panel in the day, but that was quickly shot down as it was full and tons of people were sitting on the floor waiting for the room to open. At that point I really just wanted to go back to my booth, where I should be anyway! Gone are the days of NYCC a few years ago where there were some lines, but you could basically walk into a panel. However in the evening, we got to see the “Eastern Championships of Cosplay” event. It really made me want to create an outfit! Cosplay was amazing this year for sure.
 
NYCC 2014 was enjoyable, but exhausting! It does take a few days to recover back to 100% after preparing for the show, interacting with so many people, traveling, and overall visual stimulation. It was great to hang out with Joe and Teresa once again the share the booth. I think we really work well together and we are already discussing ideas for next year.
 
I’ve posted many more fabulous photographs taken by Joe and I on the Curls Studio Facebook page. Check them out and give us a “Like” while you are at it.
 
Thanks to everyone we met and everyone who keeps coming back to our booth each year! That’s why we do this show — to meet you! Hope to meet you in the near future. 
 
Joe and I will be at Annapolis Comic-Con this Sunday, October 19, 2014. It will most likely be our last tour date this year. After that my next appearance is this Wednesday, October 22, 2014 hosting the sold out Design & Doodle Workshop for DC Design Week.
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