So....... yeahhhhh...... um, help.
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Taxes are due tomorrow! I'm actually filing for an extension, but even going through all my mixed up papers on my desk is taking forever.
Custom Illustrated Message Boards
Here's the first gig I finished from someone I met at The Great Bridal Expo back in January! I actually finished this at the end of February. It's the (future) bride and groom as mythical creatures :) This is a board for people to sign at the reception - either just the wedding party or everyone that's invited to the wedding. Having me make something custom like this is a great way to show your personal style for the big day :)
Here's a close-up. The watercolor background didn't come out as good in the scan as it looks in real life, because scanners don't pick up all of the light blues. But it still looks good :) I was especially happy about how the mermaid's tail turned out :) If you'd like me to make something like this for your event, just send me an email at mindy at mindyindy.com! Not just for weddings - could be for a housewarming party or something.
Apparently I need more Vitamin D. Not surprising, as winter just ended.
MoCCA Fest was AWESOME!
Charlie Brown, licking his lips about to feast upon all the MoCCA-festers.
Finally am recovering from MoCCA Fest. It was SO GREAT this year! Met some inspiring indie comic creators, reconnected with old friends, sold some of my comics, got some interest in my freelance services. I heard there were over 4,000 attendees on Saturday alone, which was more than both days last year! I felt very honored to be a part of such an amazing festival. Everywhere you looked there was someone's comic/merch/fun stuff they poured their heart into.
Mindy indy and Nadia Burgess
Thank you to everyone who got any of my mini comics, got a sketch, or just stopped by to say "Hi!" Shared a table with my friend Nadia again. We both had new merch! She had new bookmarks and prints, and I was promoting my custom comics (in the frame) and finished my new story in time! Literally spent all of the Friday before finishing it up. Thank God for 24-hour Staples ;)
The Lucky Penny: Unlucky in Love?
This is a page from the 5 page mini comic: "The Lucky Penny: Unlucky in Love?" I made sure not to title it "The Lucky Penny 2" because "The Misfortune Cookie 2" doesn't sell as well as the original "Misfortune Cookie" even though it's a self-contained story, people think you have to get the first one and aren't gonna buy the second one alone. "Unlucky in Love?" sold pretty well! I'm very proud of this story - the main character expresses thoughts I'm going through, and I challenged myself with drawings (those hands at the bottom were tricky) and perspective. Super glad I finished it on time and had something "hot off the press" I could tell people excitedly about :)
Also did my usual sketching. It wasn't as crazy non-stop like NYCC, but it was pretty good. This one came out the best, and the kid was absolutely thrilled :)
Ever since the Society of Illustrators took over MoCCA Fest, it's gotten better and better. I think my favorite part this year was such a nice reception with free food and booze for all the creators and volunteers. It was wonderful to be treated to something like that and I got to make friends and network and just talk about comics and animation and all that cool stuff. I wish MoCCA was more than just once a year, because it has an underground, artsy vibe that NYCC or the more "fanboy" shows don't have. I want to get into more indie fests. Didn't get into SPX this year to exhibit, but maybe I'll go just for fun.
MoCCA Arts Fest TOMORROW! And Sunday!
MoCCA Fest is almost here! I'm almost done inking the second Lucky Penny story. Here's a little pencil sketch preview: This was a bit tricky to draw, but still not as tricky as trying to bend perspective to my will for the city building backgrounds :/
See you at MoCCA Fest this weekend! Here's the facebook invite: https://www.facebook.com/events/680867505305370/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
New Site!
I've been tweaking my new Squarespace site for awhile, but now it has all the necessary info that I'm satisfied with it's state for MoCCA Fest! If you're reading this blog post in an email or from another social media site, check out www.mindyindy.com ! I finally "pointed" the domain name in the right direction. Now it's more of a professional folio site, with the main page being my work and not my blog, as in Wordpress. And I'm not as constrained space-wise to a narrow strip - check out the custom comics section, where you can see the comic pages in their entirety and not chopped up.
Also inking the second Lucky Penny story! I think I can get it done in time.... Inking is my least favorite part of the comics process because it's just tracing. If I ever hire another artist to grow in my work and get it done faster, I think I'd hire an inker, FYI to any inkers out there :P
COME TO MOCCA ARTS FEST THIS WEEKEND! I made a FB event: https://www.facebook.com/events/680867505305370/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming
MoCCA Arts Fest THIS WEEKEND!
I'm going to exhibit in MoCCA Arts Fest this weekend! This year the fest looks 10 times more amazing than it did last year! Check it out: http://www.societyillustrators.org/Mocca_Event.aspx?id=10561
It's Saturday and Sunday April 5th and 6th from 11AM to 6PM. ONLY $5 ADMISSION! That's crazy cheap compared to previous years, and there's a whole lot more going on. Fiona Staples of "Saga" fame will be a special guest, Art Spiegleman is giving a talk on Saturday at 2PM, the Macy's parade Charlie Brown balloon will be INSIDE the fest, lots of affordable food, a new Wacom lounge (!!!!!) and Kid Zone. Take a look at the map:
I'm sharing a table with my friend Nadia Burgess at table D9 - right smack dab in the MIDDLE of everything! Being right on the corner of the main aisle is an amazing opportunity for prime exposure.
MoCCA Fest is held in Manhattan at:
68 Lexington Avenue
between E. 25th & E. 26th Street
New York, NY 10010
Take the 6 train to 23rd or 28th St.
Also, this week is COMIC & CARTOON ART WEEK! Check out the list of all these crazy events going on leading up to MoCCA Fest! http://www.societyillustrators.org/Mocca_Event.aspx?id=11290
So yesterday I included color in The Daily Misfortune as something different for April Fool's, but I kind of like it. I AM a colorist, after all, and I do have a bit more time recently to play with it. We'll see how long I keep up different crazy colors... In the meantime, gotta prepare stuff for MoCCA Fest this weekend - hope to see you there!
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Portrait Drawing Events
Mindy Indy's set up for portrait drawings at Terrace on the Park
This past weekend I sketched at a Sweet 16 party for 3 hours. It was awesome and I really want to promote the fact that I do this more. Gotta make some new fliers... Anyway I do have an hourly rate and can sketch for business parties, weddings, birthdays, all kinds of events! Contact me at mindy@mindyindy.com for more info.
Terrace on the Park
This event was at a fancy place called Terrace on the Park in Queens, which looks SUSPICIOUSLY like:
Teen Titans Tower
...the Teen Titans Tower! Well, this tower times two :P I wonder if one inspired the other.
If you ever go to Terrace on the Park, do not, I repeat, DO NOT take the 7 train! TAKE A CAB.
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21st century, peeps. C'mon.
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So this Squarespace site is great for my blog and main "Mindy Indy" site, but there are other times when I need to create whole new websites to apply for jobs. Not even exaggerating. And it doesn't make sense to just have one folio site with everything because I have many different styles for my own work and bodies of work from other companies. Companies want to see right away ONLY work that applies to that SPECIFIC job and don't want to dig. Meanwhile, I've been using Wix.com to build other folio sites, which has worked well in the past, but I tried to do it again today and am having SO much trouble! Just uploading a single simple image is not working (and I've uploaded tons of stuff in that site and other sites... it's not like I'm a grandma that doesn't know how to use the internet) Called tech support, upgraded a lot of stuff, still not working. UGH I want to throw my computer out the window. Instead, I'll settle down and take a nap.
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Unfortunately based on reality. Zinc is supposed to help, like Zinc tablets and those "Cold-eze" cough drops. But it's been 2 weeks now....
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In response to last Friday's Daily Misfortune, once again a haiku my John Arminio - we're on a roll:
Wi-Fi is not free
When coffee shop Internet
Drains you of your soul
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This Daily Misfortune continues the stretch of haikus! Quoted from John Arminio yet again:
Words on a stall door
Inspire fear and trembling
"Closed for maintenance"
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This Daily Misfortune was inspired by John Arminio's follow-up St. Patrick's Day haiku:
To honor a Saint
Mix beer, parades, and corned beef
Toilets are ruined
Happy St. Patty's Day!
Today's Daily Misfortune was partially inspired by a poem John Arminio wrote to me, which was inspired by last week's poem! His poem is:
Mechanical bull
Throws me from its rusty back
The floor is sticky
I like this chain of inspiration. Please, if anyone is inspired to write a poem or their own Daily Misfortune, send it my way to mindy at mindyindy.com :)
NJ Artist & Merchant Market Recap
It's been awhile since I did a longer blog post! Been so busy lately - hell, The Daily Misfortune is practically a weekly misfortune. But being busy is a good thing.
This weekend's Hudson Flea / Artist & Merchant Market started out bleak, but got better and I can see it has a lot of potential. It was actually in an old school house, which is a very unique venue. It was hard to find though from the entrance I came in, which was next to a parking garage. Inside there was a big room with lots of tables and vendors, but I was lead way back past darkish hallways of lockers into the back-most classrooms rooms which were available. Sometimes I forget to take pictures of the whole scene - maybe in the future I'll do video blogs...
Mindy Indy at NJ Artist & Merchant Market
I shared a classroom with jeweler Allison Cannarsa - awesome hand-made jewelry! In this classroom we had tons of space to spread out, and even a chalkboard, so I didn't even need the pole frame things I usually have to stick my sketches on - I just posted them all over the walls, and used the chalk ledge to display my custom comics. Drawing on the chalkboard was great too, and I love utilizing special elements of each setup. The downside to all this great space was that hardly anyone walked by, let alone come into our room, let alone bought anything. Allison actually did pretty well because women liked her jewelry and she sold at a higher price than say, my mini comics, of which I sold 2 on Saturday.
Mindy Indy at Hudson Flea NJ Artist & Merchant Market. I love the bold primary colors of the scene!
On Sunday I did MUCH better when I moved into the hallway, which was right in the middle of where people walked by - you can't avoid walking by the table as easily as you can avoid walking into an enclosed room. Especially when it's near an entrance/exit! I sold like 10 mini comics and did 2 sketches, which isn't crazy good like NYCC of course, but it was a heck of a lot better than the previous day, and made back my table of only $20. Having a low table price also made this show more chill, so I wasn't as peeved that crowds weren't forming. I also seemed to get lots of interest in my custom comics, which will pay off later for those larger projects.
This Daily Misfortune is based on a poem by Jacqueline Hallenbeck, another artist vendor at the market! She had an old toy machine where you put in a coin and out comes a little pop-capsule with a poem inside. Mine said:
"I rode a poem
from Peru to Ecuador...
My behind's still sore."
All in all, there were some pretty diverse and interesting things at that market, ranging from rooms of huge beautiful paintings to a room of art installations to poems to jewelry to comics to music performances. This market has real potential to grow, and I think I'd try it again, as they're considering having it weekly or monthly in the future. Everyone that's selling any kind of art should participate in this market because if we have enough vendors, there won't be empty rooms and empty spaces in-between everything because vendors will line the walls!
NJ Artist & Merchant Market THIS WEEKEND!
Hey peeps! I'm in this Artist & Merchant Market this Saturday and Sunday! Hewn Arts Center 140 Sip Ave, Jersey City. Take PATH to Journal Square. I'm going to be promoting BOTH my custom comics AND sketching and selling my regular comic stuff! We'll see how that new setup works, and if I can fit everything in my suitcase... and lug it all to Jersey X(
Holy crap, this new Squarespace site lets me enter the address and put a freakin MAP just like that! SWEET.
This Daily Misfortune is brought to you by my roomie and future comedian Kaitlin McNee ;)
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This Daily Misfortune is inspired by my musician friend Scott Tran.
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Today's Daily Misfortune is based off the Dove chocolate saying: "Discover how much your heart can hold." Well, potty humor has never steered me wrong.
