#comics education
Howzitgoin? Good, good. Me? Good, thanks. I gotta tell ya though I’m sorry to bother you again, but y’see somethin’s been troubling me and I can’t stop thinking about it. Kept me up all night. and the dog too cuz he thought I was getting up to take him to Cincinnati. What’s that? Oh. Sorry. Cincinnati is what I call the park. Cuz if I say “park” or “walk” then he gets crazy. So we say Cincinnati around here. Yeah. So. Where was I? Oh yeah. This thing has been bothering me and it’s this thing about commodity form as community form. What’s that? Oh. “Commodity form as community form.” Yeah, it’s a mouthful. And sort of puzzle. What does it mean? I don’t know. Or I think I know. Either way, I keep thinking about it.
I’m helping out Frank to raise money for his comics schoolhouse/residency in Pittsburgh because taking his correspondence pushed me artistically and taught me to approach comics in a different way.
But then–perhaps what is more important for my continued, and hopeful long term, commitment to comics making–is that Frank folded me into the community of alumni who had taken his course. I feel that I can relate to every one of his former and future students because of the shared experience, even though, as he mentions here, many of us have not met in person. He gives all of his alumni access to the Comics Workbook tumblr and from that platform they can share their work, whatever level, together with established artists like Simon Hanselmann and Aidan Koch and others. It’s something special for a beginner comic artist to feel open to share in a forum together with comics luminaries like that. And it can be helpful in building an initial readership.
I haven’t posted to the CW tumblr in a while because I’ve been cooped up working on a year-long project. But that doesn’t matter. The invitation to the community doesn’t go away; I know that once I pack up the last artwork for this current gig, I can start drawing my own stuff again and post it to CW. I’m grateful to Frank’s embracing spirit and what his approach could do to improve the future education of comics art and the establishment of communities of comics creators around the U.S. I’m glad that he is doing it, because honestly, I think I (and other creators) can get a bit too wrapped up in their own creative work to look far outside themselves. I’m hoping to attend Frank’s residency once it’s established and hopefully get some insight into how I can make community building a more active part of my own relationship with comics.
I realize that this long-winded praise piece has just doubled the time you’ve taken to engage with this topic–if you read Frank’s post–but if you did take the time to read this, take the time to shoot Frank an email at [email protected] and check out what he’s auctioning. Whether you just want a piece of original art by a favorite cartoonist, or you believe in what he’s trying to achieve–I think it’s worth your time.
Post link
