Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from lizzlizz.com !

Don't forget, as well as my website you can read more comics on my flickr account where I'll be uploading more new (and old) stuff over the next few weeks including some Christmas designs I binned and various bits of artwork I've found on my laptop as I try to tidy things up. Enjoy!

New UK Greetings Cards

I received samples today of my three new cards for hanson & white (The humour branch of UK Greetings) I'm not sure if they are in the shops yet, if you spot them let me know! They will be joining the other 14 cards from my range in places like Paperchase, Waterstones and WHSmith and other retailers. Look out for them!

Here are a few photos- see more on Flickr. Designs are Semaphore card, Party Animals and Depressed Cat. All with fancy foil effect!

Recent reviews and Interview....

Here are a couple of reviews that went online this week and a couple of selected quotes if you can't be bothered to read them in full:

Page 45 reviews new comic as well as about five hundred of my previous comics and even tote bags!

"There are always life lessons in Lizz Lunney comics, and I seriously suggest you take heed."

"Admirable neo-classical art which put me in mind of sculptor Bernini, only flatter."

Forbidden Planet International Blog reviews new comic At The End of Your Garden.

In this latest comic I decided to ditch my old characters so it was nice to see this observation:

"But here, perhaps more than other volumes, she seems to be less constrained by her characters, and instead we have a freshness of ideas on the pages. There are few of her previous recurring characters, and somehow, freed from that, the ideas take centre stage."

Look, if you wondered where the characters went.... here they are:

And here is an interview with me from the lovely Elaine at Strange Alliances :o)

I was also honoured to be part of the judging panel for a brand new and exciting award show at Thought Bubble this year, photos below: see the full report by Joe Decie here.

I know that's a whole bunch of links, I've been lazy updating my blog lately so I've mushed it all in to one. Expect another blog post later today too....

100 Houses Artwork for Sale!

You can now buy the artwork from the 100 Houses Exhibition online! All proceeds go to Shelter!

I couldn't make the opening night as I was in Leeds but here are a couple of photos I was sent. If you missed the exhibition too the artwork will be online for a month! See my piece below and read on my online comic. This is the original artwork for sale.

Thought Bubble!

This weekend I'll be at Thought Bubble in Leeds. You can find me at table 156 in the New Dock Hall! Here is a handy map to help you locate my table.....

I'll be selling lots of new stuff! New comic! New tote bags! New badges! See you there.

100 Houses

This weekend I have artwork in the 100 Houses Exhibition in Bristol! I'll be adding the comic strip to my website soon so you can read it or go see it in real life! All artwork is for sale and the money will go to Shelter, here is some more info:

 ‘100 Houses‘ brings together 100 national and international image-makers from illustrators to street artists in support of housing and homelessness charity Shelter. Given the theme of “house” each artist will produce a unique piece of artwork specifically for this exhibition, culminating in an exhibition launch at the vibrant, South Bristol Cafe/Bar the Tobacco Factory in November. Each piece of artwork will be for sale, with a percentage of the profits going directly to Shelter. It is hoped that the project will generate a significant amount to support the ongoing work of the charity Shelter in its work and support for the homeless.

100 Houses opens on November 16th and runs until November 30th. Artworks not sold during the show will be posted for online sale for one month only! More details coming soon.
The Tobacco Factory is open Mon – Thurs 12pm – 11pm, Fri – Sat 12pm – 12am and Sun 10am – 11pm. A website dedicated to the project will launch in October, featuring a gallery of artworks and links to all participating artists.
Contact info:
Paul Roberts: 100housesart@gmail.com Twitter #100Houses

Comica

I'm at Comica tomorrow!

At the...END OF YOUR GARDEN!

My new comic launches at Thought Bubble in a couple of weeks! It is now in my online shop for pre-order and will ship next week. I should have a few copies for sale next weekend at Comica too if I get it back from print in time (fingers crossed)

PRE-ORDER HERE!

I have also added tote bags, prints and new badges to the shop which are available now. Get your Christmas shopping done early!

ONLINE SHOP HERE!

HUMAN WEEK!

Lately I have been making an effort to introduce more humans to my comics. I realised that I hardly ever write female characters and I even more rarely write stories featuring actual humans. So as a special event to mark the November convention season and the launch of my new comic (news on that soon) I'm holding a whole week of online comics from 12th to 16th November to celebrate humans. HUMAN WEEK! Lots of fun for humans, objects and animals alike.

Zinefest Berlin

German comics news:

You'll be able to buy my comics at Zinefest Berlin this weekend. Wish I could be there too.

Also here is a photo I have borrowed of my book on the Zwerchfell stand at Frankfurt Book Fair from a few weeks ago. Hope everyone had a good time!

BZF Photos and thanks!

This weekend was BZF! I was one of the organisers so apologies if you saw me and I was running around like crazy. I have just put some photos on Flickr here! And there will be more links and reviews on the website in the next week or so: here!

Thanks to everyone who was involved for making it such a successful Festival this year.

Here are highlights of some of the things I was involved in:

The Make It Then Tell Everybody panel talks hosted by Dan Berry were on Saturday with a complimentary exhibition of process artwork at 6/8 Kafe from the artists involved (photo above)

Here are some photos of everyone after the talks featuring: Dan Berry, me, Philippa Rice, Marc Ellerby, Luke Pearson and in the second photo Kristyna Baczynski, Jonathan Edwards, WJC, Felt Mistress, Dan Berry and Joe List. The talks were recorded thanks to Simon Berry so will be online to listen to soon. Thanks also go to Page 45 for their support of these panels.

The talks were held in the Patrick Centre at Birmingham Hippodrome- look we even got fancy Hippodrome water!

 

Here is a photo of Marc in the audience:

On Sunday I was part of Jonathan Edward's Draw Serge event at Le Truc as part of Eye Candy: it was fun to be involved even though I should have preplanned to draw mine so it wasn't behind the lamp! doh! I'll be drawing a more considered Serge for the blog soon. Here is a video featuring the Draw Serge event too!

Loads of other exciting things happened over the weekend including the main fair, after show party with Misty's Big Adventure (below) and Henry Homesweet and a nice relaxing end to the festival with Kino 10 Finnish animation showing at 6/8 on Sunday evening.

BZF + New stuff!

It's BZF this weekend! BZF have teamed up with Eye Candy Festival of Visual Culture run by Fused Magazine this year and there are lots of things going on- check the timetable here for more details.

I will be at the Independent Publishing Fair on Saturday 12-6 at Sidewalk, Hurst Street and I'm also on one of the panel talks hosted by Dan Berry in the afternoon at The Patrick Centre, Hippodrome. The talks are called "Make It Then Tell Everybody" supported by Page 45 the Midlands best comic shop in Nottingham. I'll be on the panel with Philippa Rice, Luke Pearson and Marc Ellerby starting at 3pm.

I will also have a bunch of new stuff to sell including:

Living The Dream Badges (I'll have tote bags of this design soon too)

Imperial Russia 1914 Badge Set featuring "Rasputin Lives" and "I Still Love Rasputin" badges (inspired by a recent comic I drew for the upcoming Hic+Hoc Unsolved Mystery Anthology)

Creepy Disney Collection Zine!

They will all be available to buy on the website in a couple of weeks as well!

Here are the posters for BZF! See you there, bring your friends!

UPCOMING! BZF + MORE

Lately all of my time and efforts have been going into the organising of this...

BZF 2012! I'll be at the Independent Publishing Fair on October 13th and also I'll be on this panel hosted by Dan Berry:

EXCITING! I'll post a more details update on the festival next week.

In other news...... I realised today that because of time constraints and the fact I don't want to be forced to rush work I would usually have spent more time on I have decided that my Keith The Wizard Book will have to be postponed until next year. Probably for the best as my laptop is on it's way out! BUT if you were looking forward to it don't worry- I will still have LOTS of new stuff at the upcoming conventions including a new "At The..." I Spy inspired book as well as new badges, Christmas cards, hopefully tote bags and prints and more! So rather than one big book there will be lots of potential Christmas gifts which is better I think. If you were planning on sending in a Keith drawing you still can- the book is just being delayed until I have more time to concentrate on it.

OFF LIFE

One of three blog posts tonight...

I have a comic in OFF LIFE!

What is OFF LIFE?

OFF LIFE is the UK's only street press comic magazine. Each issue we’ll be collecting comic stories from today’s best indie talent, compiling them in a bi-monthly magazine and then leaving them around bars, coffee houses, shops and galleries for good people like you to pick up – free of charge.

Comics for a lost generation

Our aim is to provide a platform for up-and-coming talent while opening comics to a whole new audience. Sure Spider-man is fun and Wolverine is tough but at their best comics are as smart, adult and culturally relevant as any novel, film or classical art. We hope that OFF LIFE will be a stepping stone to all the works of genius that exist out there in four-colour print because bold voices in every art form deserve a place to shine. Yes, even comic slingers.

READ ONLINE HERE!

Or look out for copies around London and Bristol....

PRESENTS! FOR YOU!

Hey hey, so I did a stock check this week and it turns out that Big Cat Parade is down to the last 5 copies and At The Planetarium will be sold out pretty soon too (maybe 30 copies left max) so as a special treat I have reduced my shop postage back to only £2 within the UK no matter what you order. If you want a copy of either comic make sure you grab one while they are still in print. BUY HERE!

All shop orders come with a free sketched on postcard and a sticker.

Because I don't intend to get sold out comics reprinted as a special reward I have put Big Cat Parade and I Love Dinosaurs as well as my old Top Shelf 2.0 comics online for you to read FOR FREE!!!


READ BIG CAT PARADE HERE!

READ I LOVE DINOSAURS HERE!!

READ A BUNCH OF OTHER STUFF HERE!

I have also ordered a DUST STAMP so any orders from my online shop as of next week will arrived covered in a rainbow of dust....

Bristol Comic And Zine Fair!

Today I will be at this:

 

Bear Pit Zines presents, for 2012, the 2nd annual:

Bristol Comic and Zine Fair
Sunday 23rd September 2012
12-6, downstairs at Cafe Kino

 The Bristol Comic and Zine Fair returns for a second year to celebrate the world of DIY publishing.

The Fair brings together  brilliant artists, writers and makers from across Bristol and further afield for a one-day market. There’ll self-published zines, homemade comics, handmade books, alternative publications and all things in-between on offer.

Come along and meet creators,  be inspired, and pick up great art and writing at affordable prices!

Process!

I thought I'd add my roughs for the comic I put on my website today. I usually prefer the rough drawings but often they are so scribbled in my sketchbook they are not really readable which is why I draw them up neater for the final strip. However, I think in that I lose some of the original character of the drawings which is a shame so here is a comparison between rough and final drawings for anyone interested:

In this case there are a few panels in the final strip that are still kind of scrappy but I like that (for example final two panels- I forgot to edit the Y in photoshop and the rabbit's head in panel 14 is total rubbish) I usually draw directly over the original sketches with a lightbox to try and retain what I can of the original expressions etc. But often I also add things to the final strip that were not in the original sketch or change bits of dialogue and things.

This comic is about stealing ideas from other people! I think a lot of artists will be able to identify with this.

Keith The Wizard Book Artwork Call Out!

At the moment I'm working on my next book which will be debuting at Thought Bubble this year. It will be the same format as the Depressed Cat collected volume and so I'm putting a call out for Keith The Wizard artwork! If you have ever wanted to draw Keith and his unicorns now is the time and I either be incorporating the artwork into a gallery in the book or be adding them online when the book is released (or both) Please send any artwork to me (sushimonsters at gmail dot com) Deadline will be mid October I expect. See more Keith comics here!

Here are the book details:

The Magical Unicorns of Keith The Wizard

Keith The Wizard is spending his retirement being looked after by his harem of slave unicorns; John, Paul, George, Valentine, Rudolph, Glitterbreath, Sparklefoot, Planetarium, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Ringo.
This book collects some of the moments from his lifetime of sorcery in one magical purple volume. An 80 page A6 comic printed on recycled paper with a spine!

I decided to do a Keith book because the results of my character poll are in and he came out on top! Thanks to everyone who voted. I'm keeping the poll ongoing as it is really useful hearing your opinions so if you haven't filled it in yet you still can here.

See results below in rainbow form! (First entry was a test) 

My favourite comment was this one:

"Keith the wizard is so lazy and sassy and relaxed, I love reading about him, because I'd like to be more like him. in real life, I am more like Dullbog, but I don't mind and I also like to read about his non-adventures..I wonder what would happen if they ever met..???" 

...so I will make sure Dullbog is in the book too! The book will collect all the current Keith stories as well as a bunch of new ones and like in the Depressed Cat book it will contain cross over stories featuring other characters too!

Hic & Hoc

This is a very delayed blog post! At TCAF earlier this year Hic & Hoc Publications took a bunch of my comics to distribute at various conventions in America! I have since sent over a big parcel of new comics so you will be able to grab them on the Hic & Hoc tour as follows:

 SPX (September 15-16)
The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (September 29)
The Brooklyn Comics and Graphics Fest (November 10)

Exciting! All three of these expos sound pretty great. I'm hoping to try and make it along to SPX myself next year. Anyway, go find the Hic & Hoc table and you will find my comics there along with a bunch of other amazing titles. And you can follow here on tumblr too. 

Now buy some!

Tomorrow will be the last of my ONE A DAY comics for August. If you have enjoyed the month of free comics why not buy some from my online shop?

I'm going to try and keep up the one a day comics into September if I can... I do usually try to do this every year after the August comics and it doesn't last long but maybe I can promise a couple a week on a more regular basis or something. It's partly laziness and partly that I'm busy with other things but I will try! Tomorrow I will announce the results of my character poll and other news.