I grew up on the east coast where tornadoes were Not A Thing, and tornado sirens even more so Not A Thing. So even the suggestion of a tornado in the forecast has me on high alert. Luckily my Iowa-born hubby is a pro at this. I turned an example of one such moment from a storm last year into this little comic.
We had a gnarly thunderstorm Friday night (hail and crazy wind, yes—tornado, thankfully, no), about the same time that I sat down to attend the SAW Friday Night Comics workshop. Of course I'd gotten all set up and cozy on the couch with my laptop and sketchbook before realizing I’d only grabbed some freaking highlighters and no actual drawing tool. I was super tired and cranky after a busy work day, and getting up to grab a pencil felt like asking way too much of myself. I stayed put and just listened along while coloring in my “Married to a Midwesterner” comic with the highlighters.
Sometimes listening is its own exercise with its own inspiration path. Behold:
Things I heard and liked enough to jot down, listed here without context–
“…adding tools to the tool belt”
“creating our own realities” [with comics]
and, my favorite of the night, "Moral is low...but there's a fighting spirit."
…which reminded me of that Oscar Wilde quote: “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” Love that one. That’s how I try to look at things as much as possible. As shitty as things are lately, I still have trees, and birds, and drawing, and coffee. Find your stars and put them on a pedestal for a little while.
I've never met a free workshop I didn't like…or immediately sign up for. I'm excited to attend an upcoming one by
of The SneakyArt Post, happening this Tuesday, March 18, on drawing tiny people!In more learning news, I signed up for a 6 month long graphic novel intensive 😳 through the Sequential Artists Workshop (hosts of the Friday Night Comics series) starting in June. I'm super excited, but will report back when June comes around and I'm nervous vomming while trying to get my shit together.
Welp, let me let you go
But real quick – check out this comic about the origin of early computer symbols (paint bucket, trash, command, volume, debug!). An enjoyable read that made me nostalgic for those early Microsoft Paint days, when I was an 8 year old god among mortals for managing to digitally draw with a clicky mouse.
And also, Happy St Patrick's Day! …said with a heavy heart and cheeks full of Irish soda bread drenched in butter and cinnamon. The date makes me a little blue since it reminds me of my mom, who loved St Patrick's day and celebrating our Irish family heritage. I miss her texts with so many shamrock emojis, and how she'd call me her little lassie.
Check out my St Patrick's day comic from last year:
Sláinte, friends!