FD Comics Success
I'm happy to say that "No Tears" is approaching virality on Facebook! Almost every person that "liked" the comic also "shared" it! People really related to this particular comic.
Sketch Con
I'm going to be in SketchCon this Sunday February 10th! Apparently the theme is "Fairy Tale Nightmares," so I hope people are looking for other stuff too because I don't have much time to prepare sketches for this :/ If you're in the Jersey area, please stop by! It's at the Whiskey Cafe 1050 Wall St. Lyndhurst NJ. DO NOT go to Wall St in NYC - we won't be there. 10A-5P. See you there!
Gowanus Love
February's Gowanus Nite Market has been cancelled due to problems with the venue (I'm learning just how hard it is to get events running smoothly in NYC!) but will resume in March. In the meantime, I'm still going to post drawings to keep the buzz going for the month of February with the theme of "Gowanus Love." Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and I went around Gowanus interviewing places that would be perfect for a romantic date. First up: Runner & Stone!
Runner & Stone is a chic cafe by day and a classy wine bar when the lights dim (although you could have wine anytime I guess!). It recently opened last December and is a very welcome addition to Gowanus. Service is great - everyone was so friendly to me! I went in the afternoon and had a delicious poppy seed cake with Earl Grey tea - yum! Be quick though, the pastries are gone by like 3 or 4pm. The layout of the space is divided into cozy little pockets of a few tables near the window, main room, downstairs, and in the hall - great for privacy on a date. They have really fancy food too, like Moroccan braised lamb breast, short rib tortolloni with lobster, and duck pastrami.
The name "Runner & Stone" refers to stones used in a traditional mill - the runner stone and base stone used to grind grain. The restaurant is a few blocks away from the site of the first tide water grist mill in NYC. The mill (as symbolized in their logo - you can see it imprinted on the bread at the bottom of my drawing) is a symbol of when food was produced locally and continues today in Runner & Stones hand-crafted food.
Runner & Stone 285 3rd Ave, Brooklyn NY 11215
Open M-Th 7:30A-10P, F 7A-11P, Sat 8A-11P, Sun 9A-4P
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More Custom Comics!
I updated the Custom Comics page of this site! Before Christmas I squeezed in this rush project with great results! This client found me just through Google! If you Google "custom comic" I'm now on THE FIRST PAGE! TWICE!! Yay for key words! (Custom comic, custom comic, custom comic!! Let's get to the TOP of the first page now :)
Here's what the client had to say:
“Mindy’s work is beyond incredible! Mindy is an absolute pleasure to work with. I could not be more pleased with the custom comic she created for me. She was able to get the project done on a very quick timeline, and mailed it to me a day ahead of schedule. No matter what style of comic you are looking for, I am sure Mindy can make it happen for you. I cannot recommend her enough!”
I love doing stuff like this. I'm using my talents to make people happy and also get $ - a win-win situation! If you'd like a custom comic for a friend, significant other, family member, or anyone, please contact me at mindy@mindyindy.com. Thank you!
An internet meme is usually a picture with funny bold words that goes viral, for those who don't know :) LOL cats are a classic example. You'll see memes all over any social media site. Some people have said that The Daily Misfortune is "almost a meme." So I'm almost famous and almost an internet sensation? Hmm just gotta try a little harder.
How do you pronounce that?
"Dysautonomia" is a really long word, sounds similar to other things, and is hard to remember for those unfamiliar with it. Even when I'm talking with people about this strip, some of them have trouble with the word, so imagine the frustrations people living with FD have to go through communication-wise, on top of the condition itself.
mindy indy is "Almost Famous"
Exciting news! I'm "Almost Famous," according to Christina Seeber's awesome blog post featuring myself and other cartoonists and writers. I met Christina at a New York Comic Con after party and she's really "in the know" about who's who in the indie cartooning world. We've talked a lot about social media marketing, and I owe a lot of my growing twitter following to her encouragement. Seeber is super professional, super knowledgeable, and a Super Woman!
Thank you to all my fans, clients, supporters, friends and family! I'm so glad to share my artwork with all of you and please keep enjoying and sharing it with others. A great and easy way is to click one of the sharing buttons at the top and bottom of each post (if you're on the mailing list, you can see them on the mindyindy.com site). Thanks a bunch!
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I just got a new umbrella today, actually. They always break :/
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Hakuna Matata
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GNM 2 Recap
We had a CRAZY AMAZING turnout at last Saturday's Gowanus Nite Market - 2,000 people! That's up like a zillion % from last time, which was 400 (I estimate with math, ok?). Everyone was saying there was a line out the door that stretched to the end of the block! I'm so grateful to be a part of such a cool growing scene in Brooklyn.
As always, I loved meeting lots of people, seeing friends, and drawing for others. Thanks to everyone who came out and stopped by to talk, sign up for my mailing list, and/or get a sketch :)
I loved how all the Gowanus letters looked together! It's like a rainbow. It was funny how the church in the S looked practically upside-down :P I'm going to work with the market organizer to sell the project as a set to a local Gowanus non-profit or organization - fingers crossed.
My first commission was from an Australian girl that was traveling. She wanted me to draw anything that I felt was truly "New Yorkian." I thought of the Statue of Liberty, dancing, the Empire State Building, and the Chrysler Building.
She was really happy with it! I'm glad I could contribute in a unique way to her New York adventure.
One girl wanted me to draw from a picture she had of her and her pugs. Super cute! She also had a pic on her phone of them dressed for Easter :)
That drawing took a bit longer than usual, but I'm glad that more people want the larger sketches. I think this one takes the prize of best sketch of the night. She was super happy with the result too :) Although, I've never had a person that didn't like their sketch (knock on wood...)
Did portraits! Cranked this one out pretty quickly.
This dad wanted a drawing of his son. One of the cutest kids in the world!
People really love drawings of their dogs! As a dog lover myself, dogs are always fun to draw. One time this girl (Daria) fit her 2 HUGE dogs (Newfoundlands) into her tiny car by pushing the back seat down. Daria was actually one of the vendors sitting next to me! She's a graphic designer for The Vanity Project, which makes cool clothes for non-profits and donates 51% of net profits back to each featured organization.
I had such a fun time at this month's GNM, even though it was intense and I had very little sleep (but that's how I do most of my shows!). I was slightly more successful this time around too :) I feel like this market will blow up soon (as in, become really popular, not the other kind of blow up). This is a very exciting time for mindy indy!
No Tears: Life With FD goes to Disney World
This is the next in the series of comics I'm making for the Familial Dysautonomia Foundation. People really liked this one on facebook! One person commented "we say FD sucks but in Disney World it sucks a little less :)". I'm glad people are relating to the comics. I'm also happy to announce that the Foundation has decided to keep doing these weekly comics for 6 months! YAY ongoing gig!
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Back to The Daily Misfortune
Thought of this one after NYC's "No Pant Subway Ride"
Gowanus Nite Market Tonight!
TADAA! All of the letters this week form to spell GOWANUS! I want to make postcards of these :) Come out to the Gowanus Nite Market tonight, where I'll sell my comics and create custom sketches for people.
This month, GNM goes FREESTYLE. In addition to the usual rotating film industry props changing the look of the Film Biz Recycling warehouse each month, creatively designed vendor stations utilizing furnishings from the prop shop, super cool vendors and DJ Chela on the 1 and 2’s, get ready for an amazing urban art exhibit and live art show. With classic grooves spinning in the backdrop, NYC artist Marthalicia Martarita brings the stage to life as she transforms blank canvases into incredible works of art. Artists Shanieka Marson, George Stratakis, Emmanuel Toribio, and others will also be showcasing their paintings.
Admission is FREE
RSVP: http://
7p-midnight
At Film Biz Recycling: 540 President Street, Brooklyn, New York 11215
Take any train to Atlantic Ave in Brooklyn and switch to the R one stop to Union St.
See you there!
S is for Saint Agnes Church
Did you know this beautiful historic church is right here in Gowanus? I stumbled upon it while exploring - it's on the corner of Sackett and Hoyt Streets (at 433 Sackett St.) and takes up the whole block on Hoyt. Saint Agnes is more than a century old! First built in 1901, it was destroyed by a fire caused by a lightening bolt. Here's a surprisingly detailed account of the fire from the New York Times. It was rebuilt 3 years later in 1904, which is the church you still see today. According to Lost City, "it's the sole surviving creation of Thomas F. Houghton, the son-in-law of Brooklyn's most prolific church builder, Patrick Charles Keely." Saint Agnes is a Roman Catholic church, but all are welcome if you'd like to check out the inside. Take a break from that New York hustle and bustle to meditate and/or pray if you like. Sundays it's open for mass at 9AM (English) and 11:30AM (Spanish). Wednesday and Thursday daily mass is at 8:30AM in English. Saturday's mass is also English and is at 5PM (for those of us who like to sleep in :) That's the one I'll check out.
Hopefully this won't happen to you at St. Agnes, but if it does, it seems like you'll have plenty of room to move around. The church combined parishes (people who go to the churches regularly) with St. Paul nearby in 2011, due to low attendance.