Lizzlizz- The blog bog!

Card Range!

2012-01-24T15:00:00.006Z

I had an exciting parcel in the post today- samples of my cards that are being released by UK Greetings this month! They should start to appear in shops over the next couple of weeks so look out for them! (I've not seen them on the shelves yet myself but if you spot them, please take a photo and send it to me!)

There are 14 cards in total- here are some photos (sorry for the quality - I need a better camera, they are a lot brighter in real life and have foil detail)

They should be available to buy in Paperchase, Waterstones, WHSmiths and various independent stockists near you.

JANUARY likes...

2012-01-06T17:23:00.006Z

January will be brought to you with inspiration from:

The Man With Kaleidoscope Eyes: The Art of Alan Aldridge. Available from The Works for stupidly cheap (£5.99 I think? or £21.21 on Amazon)

The Rough Guide to British Cult Comedy by Julian Hall (probably like 1p on Amazon- that's just a guess) I watch a lot of comedy in general but I'm making more of an effort this year to go to see live stand up comedy and watch all the comedy shows I've been meaning to watch that I missed the first time round (Extras, for example) and listen to more podcasts (http://www.nerdist.com/ for example)

Gross shapes in the lava lamp on my desk. Perfect starting points for characters if you don't know what to draw. IT'S A LAVA BRAIN

Ainsley Harriott Chocolate Heaven Bars. 59p in Heron Foods, like Blue Riband biscuits but made with real Belgium milk chocolate. And just when you thought you'd eaten enough Christmas chocolate to sustain you all year.

If anyone has any recommendations for me do let me know because I might read/watch/eat them next month. See my tumblr for my daily inspirations.

JANUARY MEGA BLOG 2012 YEAH

2012-01-06T16:41:00.015Z

Hello hello. Well I've been out of action with a mystery illness (pretty much since April last year on and off) and December 2011 was a useless month for me which will explain my lack of comics and website updates. Despite this I think most of my stockists should have the the new Depressed Cat book in store and thank you to everyone who bought a copy and said good things about it in the past couple of months. At the moment I seem to be ok again and so now I've got that generic why-I've-not-updated-as-often-as-intended-explanation-and-apology out of the way here are a few things I'm planning for the website and blog:

1) BLOG Monthly inspirations posts: there will be one following this in a minute. I'm going to blog a few items/books/films that are inspiring my writing at the start of each month of 2012. This is to give people some recommendations but also to help me focus on certain ideas and things I want to draw. This will usually be in the form of a book or two, a film or two and a food item. I might do a recap end of month post of all the books and films I've read/watched that month too, just because it's nice to keep a record. IT'S JUST NICE OK

2) ONLINE COMIC Now that Sushi Karaoke has sold out (...there may be a few copies in some of the stockists if you are after one but I'm not sure where...) I will be adding the pages from that comic online. Expect the first few next week!

3) CONVENTIONS I will be cutting down on conventions this year. This is mainly because I feel like there are only a couple really worth my while visiting in the UK. I will be at Comikett, Birmingham Zine Festival and Thought Bubble this year for sure but at the moment I don't know which other events I will be attending.

4) OTHER STUFF Are you really still reading this? ok... well I have quite a few projects lined up for 2012 including two new books to be out before April (one joint book and the follow up to At The Planetarium) and two exhibitions. I also have some other things to announce but details on all that soon.
5) MORE OTHER STUFF I will be continuing Grizzly Bear Thursday (which was yesterday if you missed it) and I'm organising the next Birmingham Zine Festival planned for September 2012.

As well as all this I'm hoping to have time to do some more comics for Top Shelf 2.0, some more Planetarium comics and to get some new tote bags or tshirts printed.

So, that was basically my "to do" list in blog form. If you read all that then well done, here is a prize.

Merry Christmas to You!

2011-12-23T13:50:00.001Z

Merry Christmas from lizzlizz.com!

Here is a festive Fleischer cartoon I really like: "Somewhere in Dreamland" ENJOY!

LAST POST!

2011-12-15T14:54:00.003Z

Just a quick blog to say that today is the last day for ordering stuff to arrive in time for Christmas!

Stock up on stocking fillers-

SHOP LIKE CRAZY HERE

And if you don't know what to get here is a review of the Depressed cat book from Forbidden Planet International!

Mrs 'Arris!

2011-12-06T12:24:00.002Z

I drew Mrs 'Arris for Timothy Winchester's Angela Lansbury week this week! I thought for a change I'd draw a more realistic portrait instead of a comic.

But I've drawn a comic too so look out for that on the blog later in the week!

Comical Animal 6!

2011-12-02T11:40:00.000Z

It's COMICAL ANIMAL TIME AGAIN!! It's a great Christmas/winter special issue!

Read my story "Forest Festivities" here and I also drew another Pippin the Aye Aye for Adopt an Animal- go see what he's up to today.

As well as all this there is a "Meet The Zookeepers" interview with me in this issue! Enjoy!

Wellcome Collection!

2011-12-01T16:51:00.004Z

You can now buy my Depressed Cat book in the Mental Health Graphic Novel section of Blackwell's in the Wellcome Collection. The Wellcome Collection is one of my favourite places in London to go for a cup of tea and to look at the exhibitions as it is right opposite Euston Station so perfect if you have time to spare between trains! It also has great ceiling lights (see photo above!)

More new stockist news soon- shops currently stocking the DC book are: Ikon Gallery -Birmingham, Wellcome Collection -London, Gosh -London, Orbital -London, Page 45 -Nottingham, Dave's Comics -Brighton, Here Gallery -Bristol, Here Gallery -Cornwall, OK Comics -Leeds and the online shop. If you know of any shops or galleries interested in stocking my books do get in touch (sushimonsters at gmail dot com)

Take Away Cups!

2011-11-27T22:26:00.003Z

I recently designed some coffee art for take away cups at Six Eight Kafe Birmingham! Look out for them!

Thought Bubble!

2011-11-18T10:13:00.002Z

Despite not being in full health I will still be at Thought Bubble this weekend selling copies of my new book and badges (and old stuff too!) Do come along and say hello and buy things so I don't have to carry a heavy case home again! Poster above by Hugh Shug Raine!

I will be at table 144 in Saviles Hall on "Trouble Maker Row" sharing a stall with Dan Berry! See you there!

Depressed Cat Mini Site Book launch week!

2011-11-14T11:58:00.006Z

CLICK HERE FOR DEPRESSED CAT MINI SITE!

All of this week I will be posting the amazing DC fan artwork I have been sent in on a mini site as a launch week for the new book. Above Depressed Cat by John McCrea and below by Paul Shinn, just two of the awesome drawings I had sent to me. Tune into the mini site all week for artwork by Hunt Emerson, The Brothers McLeod, Gemma Correll, Timothy Winchester, Jim Medway and many more!

Don't forget- Depressed Cat will no doubt be moaning about all the fuss on twitter! Sigh.

(You can also follow on tumblr if you prefer)

DC BOOK IN STOCK!

2011-11-11T14:23:00.006Z

I got the new Depressed Cat book back from the printers today ready to sell at Comica tomorrow and Thought Bubble next weekend! It will also be in stock in Page 45 next week and other stockists pretty soon.

Pre-orders will be posted this afternoon so if you place an order before I go to the post office at 5pm today it should arrive by Monday just in time for Depressed Cat week on my website! Here are some preview photos of the book and remember if you order just the new book from my online shop between now and next Friday you get free postage! (free postage within UK only-will arrive carefully packaged in a miserable grey stripe paper bag)

New Stockists!

2011-11-07T19:00:00.000Z

I have three exciting new stockists this month!

Comma in Oxford!

Almost Antique in Birmingham!

Quimby's in America!

Desk of DREAMS!

2011-11-07T13:02:00.004Z

It's a bit of a miserable November afternoon so I thought I'd share a photo of my workspace. A while ago I drew this for this interview:
....but now that dream has come true! This is my current desk area. It was looking unusually tidy so I thought it would be a good time to share with annotations:

It's bigger if you click on it! What is missing from that photo is tea so I'm going to go and make some now. Also my lightbox/scanner/paper trimmer/paper which I keep safely on the floor.

Tomorrow I hope to see you at the Sol Pop launch night! And then on Saturday I will be at Comica and I've also sent a bunch of comics along to the South East London Zine Fest.

WOO!

Depressed Cat Book!

2011-11-03T21:48:00.006Z

You can now pre-order my new book Depressed Cat: Nine Miserable Lives from my website shop!! I will be sending copies out in a couple of weeks and I'll also be selling copies at Comica and Thought Bubble conventions- at a special discounted convention price!

I'll be having an online launch on the week of the 14th November with a special Depressed Cat mini site featuring lots of fan art and comics :¬(

Follow DC on twitter here!

(I also meant to say- if you are pre-ordering just the Depressed Cat book and no other items then postage will be free so I'll refund the postage charge when you order!)

MCM EXPO LONDON!

2011-10-24T17:45:00.004+01:00

This weekend I will be exhibiting at MCM Comic Village! I'm *hoping* new badges arrive in time but I'm not sure if they will or not. If not I will still have my usual stock- which all make great xmas presents for your friends and family so come and buy everything so I don't have to carry things home!

If I do have new badges they will look like this:

I will also be selling a few limited copies of my German book for anyone who likes to read comics in German instead of English!

See you there!

German Book!

2011-10-06T18:01:00.004+01:00

I have a few copies of my German book "Ich liebe Katzen und Katzen lieben mich" available for order in the UK direct from me- so if anyone wants a copy get in touch. It is £8 with free p&p! 72 pages of comics all translated into German! See this blog post for some sample comics from the book. Just email me sushimonsters at gmail dot com and I will send you an invoice.

It is also available on German Amazon and in all good stockists across Germany!

Read some reviews of the book here and here!

Romantic Bison!

2011-09-30T14:29:00.004+01:00

You can now read my Romantic Bison comic on Top Shelp 2.0! Go read!

And there is a bit about it here on Comic Book Resources.

Really into bison? Then don't forget my other bison story Buffalo Mozzerella on Comical Animal!

Or you can buy a hard copy of the Bison story in my shop. (now in pink cover only)

Not into Bison? pfft! why ever not!

Upcoming!

2011-09-28T18:00:00.003+01:00

Since the start of September you may have noticed a lack of online comics on my website again. This is because I've been busy working on various projects that are taking up most of my time. I'll be announcing more exciting news soon but for now- here are the main things I've been drawing the past few weeks :
Depressed Cat THE BOOK! If I get it finished in time I hope to release the book at Thought Bubble, put possibly earlier if it is back from the printers before then. It will be a textured cover A6 size comic book with a spine (A SPINE!) collecting all the DC strips and lots of new ones too! I'm also collecting fan art so if you want to send in a drawing of DC please do. The fan art will all go on the website and here on the blog when the book is launched. Don't forget to follow DC's tweets!

I have also been working on Solipsistic Pop 4 (For this I have written a three page story about mind mapping for issue theme of maps) and Ink and Paper! (In this I have a two page story about a fortune teller) Sneak peeks of both below! Don't forget you can still fund/pre-order sol pop here.

I think I will probably be delaying the release of At The Lighthouse until next March so that there is a new "At The..." comic every year (unless I suddenly get a lot done in the next few weeks in which case it could be out soon)

Anyway, here is a comic as a special prize for this week. And tomorrow is Grizzly Bear Thursday!

Comical Animal 5!

2011-09-02T12:43:00.004+01:00

It's that time again! A NEW ISSUE OF COMICAL ANIMAL IS OUT!

I have written a story for this issue called Buffalo Mozzarella which comes with this handy BUFFALO/BISON comparison chart-

Why not try using this diagram to identify this beaut below- photo taken at the Natural History Museum in New York by Felt Mistress! :oD

I also drew the gift adopted Aye Aye- Pippin for issue 5!

There are some really great stories this issue- Enjoy!

Solipsistic Pop 4!

2011-08-25T22:14:00.002+01:00

Solipsistic Pop has launched an IndieGoGo campaign to raise money for volume four.

Please head over there and donate if you can – or tell your friends. All help and support is greatly appreciated!

Brighton Exhibition!

2011-08-09T16:40:00.000+01:00

Starting this Friday my work is part of a pop up exhibition on Brighton seafront at the Brighton Fishing Museum. Curated by Upstream Creative Ltd. "Where Are You Mr Tucker" features work by a bunch of artists. I will be exhibiting some brand new artwork which reveals the title of my next comic released later this year...."At the Lighthouse"

Here are the pieces I'll be exhibiting which will also be on sale exclusively at the exhibition in a limited edition of 10 prints.

All being well I should be at the opening on Friday so if you live in Brighton come along!

ONE A DAY AUGUST

2011-08-01T13:03:00.003+01:00

Today is the start of my ONE A DAY comics for August. You are all invited to join the party! Go read here!

When checking the spelling of the word awkward (because I can't spell even basic words) I came across this beaut of a site.

I suggest listening to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack while checking these links out.

MCM Manchester

2011-07-29T00:57:00.005+01:00

This Saturday I will be in Manchester for the very first MCM MANCHESTER.

Man-oh-Manchester, mANCHORchester, Man-che-STAR are some nicknames I came up with for the city. You can thank me later if you choose to use them yourself.

I will also be at the MCC Drink And Draw on Sunday no doubt!

Preclusion

2011-07-29T00:39:00.003+01:00

Today I went to paint a couple of Leopards in Leotards and Dullbog the Bulldog in the derelict Whitmarley factory in Stirchley, Birmingham. "A genuinely guerilla experience, Preclusion is a totally unsupported spontaneous art exhibition"

There will be an opening tomorrow with dancing and live art and drinks etc at 18.30 so go along if you are around! check out the website here for more details. If you can't make it here are some photos of the painting in progress and me hanging out with the final characters.

New Cross Turn Left!

2011-07-22T23:59:00.002+01:00

I'll be at THIS on Sunday. See you there!

Where is the love?

2011-07-18T15:46:00.006+01:00

Wondering why I've not put any comics online lately? (since March! March!! ugh March)

WELL!

I've been really busy with a bunch of stuff but also I'm planning to draw a comic a day in August so I figured anyone who is interested in reading comics for free can wait until then....

If you prefer to pay for laughs who not take a look in my online shop! Patches are now for sale! Bison zine now comes with a pink cover (I sold out of red- same story inside) AND until August I'll be sending a free original drawing with every order! it could be a bison or a moose or a mousse or a grain of salt or whatever I think of at the time...no requests, this will be drawn at random!

BOG GOBLIN ZINE! + Birmingham Zine Festival

2011-07-08T15:35:00.003+01:00

Birmingham Zine Festival starts today!

Tonight at 5pm is the launch party at the 6/8 Kafe with a zine artwork exhibition featuring some of my work from the 33rpm exhibition (of Birmingham based LP cover collage art) as well as work by Bunny Bissoux, Carla Smith, Dina Kelberman, Gareth Courage, Harriet Shephard, Jane McGuinness and Roxie Collins. Then at 6pm tonight there is the opening of the Gareth Courage exhibition at the We Are Birmingham shop!

Tomorrow I will be at the zine fair 12-6 (Kings Parade, Dale End, WAB shop) selling all my usual stuff as well as a new zine especially for this weekend by me and Bryony. Here is a blurry photo-

I will also have some more Romantic Bison zines, this time with pink covers!

Do come along if you can! The fair promises goody bags to the first 100 people, tea and cakes, drawing workshop, badge making, films, a talk and exclusive showing of the brand new "Isle Of Spagg" by the Brothers McLeod and lots of zines by a long list of excellent artists! check the website for more details.

See you there!

Book Launch!

2011-06-22T09:32:00.003+01:00

My book "Ich liebe Katzen und Katzen lieben mich" will be launched this week at Comicfestival München 2011 see the Zwerchfell website for more details! Here are a few sample strips! HA HA Doppelkinns!

Birmingham Zine Festival!

2011-06-09T15:03:00.004+01:00

Here is the press release for Birmingham Zine Festival, do go ahead and spread the word! We also have a limited number of extra table spaces as far as I know so if you are interested in exhibiting it might not be too late, email us to check!

Birmingham Zine Festival press release (5^thJune 2011) for immediate release.

BIRMINGHAM ZINE FESTIVAL

The Birmingham Zine Festival returns in July 2011 to celebrate alternative publications! It will feature a varied collection of exhibitors who self-publish books, comics and magazines. Over 30 individual zine-makers and distributors are coming from all over the country to display and sell their work. Members of the public are invited to browse the work on show and take part in our workshops.

Saturday 9^th July 2011

The Birmingham Zine Fair takes place at We Are Birmingham, 12 noon to 6pm. Badge-making and drawing workshops will be running throughout the day. Refreshments will also be available.

T-shirt Printing Workshop hosted by Get A Grip will take place at The Custard Factory, at 1pm. Space is limited, so early booking is advised.

BBQ provided by The Jekyll and Hyde pub in their courtyard, 6pm – 9pm.

Aftershow Party hosted by Sugarfoot Stomp will take place at the Jekyll and Hyde pub, in the Gin Parlour, 8pm – 1.30am.

Sunday 10^th July 2011

Zine Picnic at Cannonhill Park. Meet us in the park at 2pm for an informal gathering. Bring some food and bring some zines!

July 2011 TBC

Gareth Courage Exhibition at We Are Birmingham, featuring artwork for the independent record and publishing label, First Fold.

Film Night featuring contributions from Kino 10. In addition, Rob Horrocks will be hosting a show and tell.

Book making, book binding and kids lino/block printing workshops.

The first ever Birmingham Zine Festival took place in September 2010. It is run by volunteers who wish to celebrate and showcase exciting work that is published by independent artists and writers. Building on the success of our previous event, this year’s festival is shaping up to be even bigger and better! http://www.birminghamzinefestival.com/

Click flyers for bigger version, feel free to use them on your blog/website. Designed by the wonderful Bunny Bissoux!

Summer HOLIDAY!

2011-06-08T11:29:00.007+01:00

I go away on Friday on a working holiday to Cornwall for a week! In a caravan!!! YEAH! I will be spending the time working on various exciting upcoming projects, some announced this week:

Solipsistic Pop Issue 4!!!!!

Ink and Paper magazine!!!!

Paper Science 6!!!

As well as greetings cards, one a day comics for August and a NEW COMIC! Estimated release date for most of the above will be October/November (probably)

TOMORROW I'll be putting the bears up on Grizzly Bear Thursday and getting all the prizes posted out as well as some shop orders to Here Gallery Bristol, Travelling Man Leeds and Orbital London so they all have new stock. This weekend I'll also be dropping stuff at Daves comics in Brighton!

Because I'll be away the tumblr will be having a little break and I'll only have limited phone Internet access so expect a blog post when I'm back.

Oh I'm also super busy organising Birmingham Zine Festival but will do a follow up blog post on that before I leave at the end of the week, maybe later today.

Comical Animal 4!

2011-06-03T21:12:00.002+01:00

It's out! Comical Animal issue 4! READ HERE!

My story is a leopards in leotards SPOT the difference.

Wizard Week!

2011-06-01T11:53:00.002+01:00

In case you missed it, last week was Wizard Week on People I Know. I made this dress up Keith (click to see bigger version)

I plan to make it interactive but I've not had chance to put it together yet so expect that soon!

Happy Wizard Week for last week!

MCM this weekend! Flyers!

2011-05-26T17:19:00.001+01:00

This weekend I will be at MCM Expo in London. Sadly it clashes with Alternative Press Fair AND the opening of the new Get A Grip shop in Birmingham also this weekend, so those events will have some of my comics and stuff for sale on the communal tables but I won't be attending in person. I also have new flyers for all three events (images above and below!) See you at MCM Expo (and in your imagination at the other events)

Things I will be bringing to MCM expo include:

new patches
magnets
badges
mini comics
other comics
packed lunch (not for sale)

I might also bring some blank cards and sell drawings. I'm not sure what of but probably cats or unicorns I would expect. And I may or may not wear fancy dress.

From rough designs to FINAL designs+WINNER!

2011-05-24T23:20:00.003+01:00

Ok so remember that post I made about patches?.... I ordered 3 of the designs: Rad Ride, Triplet Peaks and Depressed Cat and a new design: Laptop Boy (to sew on your laptop case) Here they are!!! (ignore the duck, it just wanted to try and get on the internet)

And as for the competition results- I wrote the names down on neon stars and asked my cat, Ollie, to pick a winner:

CONGRATULATIONS!! You win one of each patch! Mega thanks to Bryony for editing the footage for me :o)

It was nice to have a competition so expect another one soon, I will have more winners next time and more prizes. I love prizes.

The patches will be for sale this weekend at MCM Expo, Alternative Press Fair and Get A Grip shop opening- details on all three events on Thursday. They will be in the shop in a couple of weeks!

Proofs!

2011-05-22T17:56:00.004+01:00

The proofs for my book soon to be out in Germany published by Zwerchfell...

Changes

2011-05-09T17:43:00.000+01:00

I've been having a rethink of my comics on the internet, you may have noticed that my online comic hasn't been updating much lately- partly because I've been unwell and because of other things I've been busy sorting out. Therefore I have decided to create a new tumblr so I can update more frequently (every day you hear!) and make them easier to share with your friends online!

TUMBLR TUMBLR http://lizzlizzcomics.tumblr.com/ TUMBLR FUN OH YEAH

I will still update the regular comic with new stuff but I'm hoping eventually (when all the old ones are up on the tumblr) the two will be in sync. I'm still planning to run the one a day comic in August too.

SO- here is a simple diagram to explain all that waffle, places you can read my comics online:

TUMBLR

LIZZLIZZ.COM

TOPSHELF 2.0

And here is Changes by David Bowie for you to listen to while you read.

The Poetry of Drawing: Pre-Raphaelite Designs, Studies and Watercolours+John Salt Exhibition

2011-05-08T18:42:00.005+01:00

I thought as a change from comics I'd write a bit about a couple of exhibitions I've been to lately. This may not be of interest to people who are only into cute animals and humour but if you are interested in fine art read on...

This week was the opening of a John Salt Exhibition at the Ikon Gallery in Birmingham.

I've been a fan of John Salt's photo-realist American car paintings for a long long time. Me and my friend used to go to the Gas Hall Gallery and Birmingham Art Gallery to look at the painting above every Wednesday afternoon when we had free study lessons. I must have a million postcards of this image as I bought one nearly every week for about two years!! I'm not sure what it is I like about the painting so much, something about the atmosphere created by the colours I guess but I just remember being amazed by the fact this is a painting and that something so photographic can be captured in paint. The exact opposite of my comics really. So I was especially excited to go to the current Ikon exhibition which is showing the most comprehensive survey of paintings by John Salt from collections in the UK and abroad. Salt was actually the first artist to exhibit in the Ikon in it's original Bullring venue and he used to teach in Birmingham and the West Midlands before moving to America.

Another exhibition I went to a few weeks ago was The Poetry of Drawing: Pre-Raphaelite Designs, Studies and Watercolours at Birmingham Art Gallery.

Birmingham is known for it's extensive collection of Pre-Raphaelite artwork but most of the collection is kept in storage and only shown every few years (such as the amazing Burne Jones tapestries) The thing I like most about the Pre-Raphaelite artwork is the way the paintings tell a story and in that way they relate to comics in their consideration of composition and what to show to create a character. This exhibition in particular was a collection of the studies and drawings which would have been created before the final painting began. The above image is a pen and brown wash over pencil on paper titles "View from San Miniato al Monte, Florence, 1845" by John Ruskin.

I especially liked this joke sketch by Dante Gabriel Rossetti "Of course!" caricature of William Holman Hunt and "Slosh" caricature of John Everett Millais from the early 1850s. They suggest a conversation between the two artists. "Slosh" was a word used by the Pre-Raphaelites to dismiss the work of Sir Joshua Reynolds- they referred to him as "Sloshua" and his paintings represented everything they despised about academic art. Early comic art perhaps?

There is an amazing online resource of the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery collection of Pre-Raphaelite artwork here.

Street Party!

2011-04-29T07:51:00.003+01:00

Celebrating the Royal Wedding or not- have a free create your own street party to print, colour in and cut out! Click to see large version!

Competition!

2011-04-26T17:06:00.006+01:00

I figured it was about time I got some new fabric PATCHES. I'm currently trying to decide which designs to go for. These are my rough patch designs so far:
I'm going to get two different designs but not sure what to go for yet. SO- if you are reading this and have any feedback or opinions I'd really appreciate your thoughts- Which shape you would buy? Which designs do you like? or which characters you would like to see on patches that I've not drawn here? I will do more designs and probably do another blog post to help decide which to get made. As in incentive if you leave some feedback I will pick a random winner from the comments who will win one of each new patch when they are made in a few weeks!

Last time I sold patches was a long time ago when I had the Feed Me Sushi ones which looked like this:
Thanks for your help :o)

Two Blue Cats

2011-04-26T15:46:00.016+01:00

I thought I'd write a blog about the stuff I've been up to recently.

Here are some photos of the conventions I was at last weekend:

Craft and Crown at the Hospital Club was a relaxed event full of cupcakes and tea. I had a great day and as I've been ill recently it was a nice day to see friends and chat to other craft makers. It was especially great to finally meet the people behind Avoid The Future!

London Zine Symposium was a much more hectic day, mainly because I wasn't feeling great and thought I was late. It turned out I was actually early, phew! It was super hot in the hall and mega packed with people buying and selling zines. I didn't really get chance to look around so was sad not to have a bunch of zines to read on the train home but I did meet lots of people and as usual it was an amazing event which seems to be getting more and more popular each year. I ran out of flyers in the first hour!! I did get a couple of things before leaving which I will blog about in a separate post soon.

Then this weekend I was busy painting and designing some new patches (that I hope to get made in time for MCM in May...see following post on these) This is the painting I did of two blue cats:

Stuff in shop!

2011-04-14T21:38:00.002+01:00

There are a few things now in my online shop that haven't been available online until now-

JUICE BADGE!
LEOPARD BADGE!
MAGNETS!
BISON ZINE!

Go buy! And have some friends too-

Two Day Stall Weekend!

2011-04-12T23:34:00.000+01:00

This weekend I will be at two events in London, on Saturday: Craft and Crown- a Royal Wedding themed craft extravaganza! I will have new badges- with heads and tails coin images (shown above!) and whatever else I can rustle up by then! I will be sharing with the awesome Lynn Allingham of Tuckshop fame selling a whole host of wedding themed jewels and magical goodies. You don't know what to buy William and Kate as a wedding present?- well come along and there will be loads to choose from. The Queen will even be there!*

And on Sunday I will be at the London Zine Symposium sharing a stall with Katie Green of Green Bean Studio (who I have yet to meet in reality!) so be sure to come by and say hello and bring us presents. If it's anything like the last event there will be a ton of cake and fun to be had. See you there!

*may be a lie

Depressed Cat on twitter

2011-04-09T13:26:00.003+01:00

Can't get enough of your friends moaning their lives away on twitter? Well why not take that to the next level? You can now follow Depressed Cat on twitter too.

RABBITS!

2011-04-01T12:06:00.001+01:00

It's 1st of April and also Comical Animal Issue 3 is out!

You can read my story Rabbit Tails here!

EGAKU - Draw for Japan

2011-03-30T21:17:00.003+01:00

I must draw your attention to this important event happening this Sunday. I have sent along some prints which will be sold at the fair. Here is the info:

"Weeks have passed yet the sheer scale of devastation wrought by the recent earthquake and tsunami on the east coast of Japan is still impossible to fully comprehend.
Watching the scenes unfold on TV screens those of us with friends and family in the region were left with a horrible feeling of disconnection and a sense of uselessness.

To counter this however we can, we introduce EGAKU: a one/two day event to raise money for the Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund.
Onsale will be zines, prints, ceramics, original drawings, books and much more, from some of the most renowned illustrators and designers of today -
Rob Ryan, Nobrow, Okido, Anorak Magazine, Jean Jullien, Laura Carlin, Frinton Press, Peepshow, Luke Best, Hato Press, Lazy Oaf, Oh Comely, Winged Chariot, and many many more.

EGAKU means "draw" and "imagine " in Japanese. We hope that we can support Japanese people EGAKU ( imagine) a peaceful future by EGAKU (drawing).
100% of all money made will be donated to the relief effort, so please join us on 3rd of April at Jaguar Shoes for those suffering in Japan.

Website: http://www.egaku.org. uk/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=108761579207073
twitter: http://twitter.com/#! /egakuUK

Be sure to go along and give what you can!

Annotated Weekender Belated Birthday Blog

2011-03-24T00:43:00.004Z

I just realised I forgot to blog about the Annotated Weekender's second birthday guest week which was ages ago now but it's never too late to go check it out! Mine can be seen above^

Memorabilia NEC

2011-03-22T14:25:00.006Z

This weekend I'll be at the Memorabilia show at the NEC in Birmingham. I haven't been to Memorabilia for years and it will be the first time they have held a Comic Village as part of the MCM Expo group. I will also be at the events in Manchester and London later in the year. Here I am at the show meeting Peter Mayhew (of Chewbacca fame) with my friend Sarah in 2004 maybe?

I've updated the tour dates to the right LOOK---------------------------------------------->

See you there!

P.S If you buy anything from my online shop this week I will send along a FREE GIFT! That's right! GO BUY :o)

New things! BISON ZINE!

2011-03-09T19:10:00.002Z

This weekend I will be at The London Comic and Small Press Expo and I will have a bunch of new things!

Romantic Bison Zine!

12 pages of Bison action! Bison are a highly under appreciated member of the animal kingdom and I think there is a significant lack of them in the art world. I hope to rectify this in some small way with this Bison love story and these....

Romantic Bison Pin Badges! And while you're here why not watch this clip from BBC's Planet Earth about Bison- be sure to look out for the Bison's beard flapping as he runs in the last shot.

I will also have Mousemats! As requested on twitter I have made a few trial mousemats, very limited edition. These will be exclusive to the convention but if they are popular I might add them to the online shop soon.

Magnets- FRIDGE and MR. FACEBOOK. Both come in small packets carefully presented with matching labels. Perfect for your fridge. Or metal walls.

"Ich liebe Katzen....

2011-03-03T21:04:00.004Z

...und Katzen lieben mich!" is the title of my new book to be released in April! it contains a hearty selection of all my comics translated into German by the publishers Zwerchfell Verlag!

Take a look at their blog, website and facebook page for more information.

The above image is a sneak preview of the cover, more details soon!

Happy Valentines Day x

2011-02-14T14:04:00.007Z

I've put a couple of new comics up today! And here is a free printable valentines card of a vintage Depressed Cat for you to give to your friends, family and loved ones... or for yourself if you have no friends, family or loved ones.

There are new links to some awesome people on my site today too (I double dare you to check out every link this week) and also a new interviews section so you can read some of my excellent* responses to various questions.

*stupid

Zine News!

2011-02-10T20:07:00.008Z

Birmingham Zine Festival is back for 2011! I'm part of the team organising it again this year and the date for the main part of the event, the stall day, is set for 9th July! It will be held at the We Are Birmingham shop. Check out the website, facebook page and twitter for updates to come very soon! There will be BUNTING!

In other zine related news, in January I was the lucky winner of the full set of Green Beans so far, issues 1-8 by Katie Green. I meant to blog about this ages ago but have only just had chance to read them all and they are fantastic- full of recipes and reviews and interviews. I recommend you go and check them out for yourself! (photo below borrowed from Katie's blog. Thanks again Katie, they really cheered up a wintery January!)

I also wanted to draw your attention to Norwich Zine Market which is this Saturday at Cherry Cherry shop! I live too far away to go myself but have sent a parcel of my books which will be for sale on the day with a market full of other exciting things....so if you live near by be sure to go get your photo taking with John "Iron Fist" Limbo! (photos below borrowed from the facebook group!)

FREE UNICORN!

2011-02-07T13:54:00.003Z

This week only, in time for Valentines Day - every shop order will also get a free drawing of a UNICORN!* So if you're not sure what to buy for your loved one why not take a look. I can draw the unicorn on a card if requested!

*may not look as realistic as above image. If you hate Unicorns I can draw you a wolf instead and add a personal message if you want too!

Comical Animal Issue Two!

2011-02-04T15:20:00.000Z

It's time for Comical Animal Issue Two! You can read the whole issue here!

My story (image above) is based on a poem from Bobby Bear Annual 1950 which I've illustrated with my versions of the characters. Enjoy!

Sticks!

2011-02-03T17:45:00.002Z

Why not take a break from what you're doing and watch some Sticks?

Sergeant Constable receives a vision from the Forking Angel of Possibility to show him how his life could have been. An animated detective comedy from The Brothers McLeod and BBC Comedy.

In this episode Constable Witch tries to collar some criminals using a spot of sorcery.

Voice artist ...... Rachel Ferjani
Voice artist ...... Myles McLeod
Voice artist ...... Sam Troughton
Sound ...... Paul Johnston
Illustrator ...... Lizz Lunney
Photographer ...... Lucy Barriball
Animator ...... Tom Evans
Producer ...... Helen Brunsdon
Design ...... Greg McLeod
Writers ...... The Brothers McLeod
Directors ...... The Brothers McLeod
Executive Producer ...... Simon Lupton
Executive Producer ...... Martin Trickey

Join the Sticks Facebook Fan Page!

Watch more Sticks at BBC Comedy.

Hourly Comic Day!

2011-02-02T15:08:00.007Z

You can read my hourly comic in full here!

I'll put it on my online comic too but for anyone interested here are the first two pages of my rough version. I drew this throughout the day every hour then drew it up at the end of the day so it is easier to read (I think this was the same way I did last years too) I'll be putting some InsomniApple comics on my website soon!

This week...

2011-01-31T20:40:00.001Z

....there will be some new comics on my website but also....

...don't forget tomorrow is HOURLY COMICS DAY 2011. You can join in here. I'll be taking part again! (You can read my comic from last year on the forum)

I'm working on a bunch of stuff at the moment. Some things that I can't talk about yet and some that I've mentioned already- including more comics for Think Tank Planetarium, I went to check them out on Saturday and tried to take a few photos although photos don't come out too well in the dome:

If you get a chance to visit they look a lot better on the actual Planetarium and you can see my comics before every show. More to come over the next few weeks!

Free for You

2011-01-25T15:00:00.003Z

Today I'll be adding pages of "A Lovely Free Comic" to the online comic- I gave this away at MCM last May. Enjoy! And why not have a piece of cheesecake too.

Christmas Present!

2011-01-24T23:30:00.000Z

I wasn't going to blog about this but Dan Berry and Joe Decie have mentioned it on their blogs (and after seeing that Joe had written about a similar present of equal awesome magnitude that he had for his birthday) I figured I'd share too...

This Christmas my boyfriend arranged for a whole bunch of my comics friends to draw me a comic! All the work was compiled and printed into a real comic thanks to the help of BFF Timothy Winchester. Darren came up with the scenarios for each drawing based on things I like and this was the result!

Pages by John Allison, Darren Whitcombe, Timothy Winchester, Joe Decie, Greg McLeod , Joe List, Kayla Hillier, Dan Berry, Marc Ellerby, Bryony Matthewman, Tom Humberstone, Adam Cadwell, Luke Pearson and Philippa Rice,

A very excellent present indeed! Click the images to see them bigger!

Most Depressing Day of the Year!

2011-01-17T21:50:00.004Z

It's that day again! Hope you're having a miserable day too!

60+ Years Project.

2011-01-17T16:23:00.004Z

A while ago I did this for the 60+ Years Project. Zara just uploaded more to the collection so go take a look!

"The 60+ Years project aims to creatively commemorate the 60th anniversary of UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights): the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled.

Designers of varying backgrounds have been invited to take part by writing or drawing on a mini board to exercise their right to free speech and self-expression. The project will culminate in an installation that showcases their final creations, as well as promote the UN and commemorate 60+ years of human rights."

Knitty New Year!

2011-01-05T15:35:00.003Z

I've been without proper Internet access for the past couple of weeks so I've been busy filling the in between Christmas and New Year limbo void with knitting...

I finally finished my worm/tube draft excluder. Enjoy his creepy face-

And I knitted this dapper fox for my friend's birthday-

I've just added a comic to the online comic! I plan to add comics on a more regular basis this year starting with some "I Love Dinosaurs and They Love Me" comic pages and I will sprinkle some new ones in there too.

COMIC RSS!

2010-12-29T15:18:00.002Z

My online comic has RSS!

If you want to grab the feed directly, the URL for the Comic is:

http://www.lizzlizz.com/rss.xml

As before the Blog is:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/lizzlizz?format=xml

And here is another present while I'm here-

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-24T16:27:00.011Z

Take a look at Depressed Cat in his lovely Christmas jumper! Click to see full size.

And as a present here are four pages from the sold out comic "A Unicorn Trapped Under a Rainbow (crying)" and one about bears at Yuletide.

FULLDOME COMICS!

2010-12-22T13:05:00.014Z

What's that? Sick of reading comics online? Fed up of boring old print versions? Want to read comics in a new and exciting way? WELL NOW YOU CAN!

I'm very excited to announce that Thinktank Planetarium have asked me to create the first Fulldome (360-degree) Comic! At the moment we are trialling this strip from my new comic "At The Planetarium" which will be at the Planetarium with every pre-show at Thinktank right now!

The video below shows the way the comic will be shown with the panels orbiting the dome. I plan some full image comics for the dome next and some other space themed comic strips for people to enjoy before the show starts.

Traditional planetariums have a single star projector, but with a digital system the dome can be completely filled with colour and light (as shown in the image above!) This makes a perfect platform for a variety of film, animation, theatre and art shows....and now COMICS!

I've always been a big fan of Planetariums ever since my Mom took me to Liverpool Planetarium when I was little. The cover of my comic is actually based on Montreal Planetarium when I visited earlier this year. If you have never been to one before plan a visit for 2011! Thinktank Planetarium in Birmingham is the UK's most progressive digital planetarium and immersive theatre. Go join their Facebook group here or follow their twitter here for news of their upcoming shows.

Dream Santa

2010-12-17T04:01:00.005Z

Some Interviews and Reviews.

2010-12-17T03:49:00.003Z

Last week I had a couple of interviews online-

Dan Berry has been interviewing a whole big bunch of people over at The Comics Bureau- read mine here.

And Avoid the Future have been doing a One Question Interview with people, my question:

From a cartoonist's perspective, what do you consider the building blocks of successful comedy to be?

Read my answer here!

At The Planetarium was also reviewed on the Forbidden Planet International blog here.

And if you read through all of those links here is your reward-

Christmas time FREEBIES!!!

2010-12-07T15:13:00.005Z

Spend over £5 in my shop in the next week and get a FREE signed print of your choice! (note-this doesn't include A3 Prints- but any of the A4 or Square ones!)

Tell your friends! Time is running out for Christmas present orders! If you are buying comics for a friend I can write a message inside them and draw a picture too.

Just let me know which print you want free (no need to add it to your cart) or any special instructions for drawings in the comics!

FREEEEEEE! And check back tomorrow for a Christmas competition.

Comical Animal Issue One!

2010-12-06T14:58:00.006Z

It's finally here! Comical Animal Issue One!

Featuring a host of excellent artists including Gary Northfield, Rob Jackson, Dan Berry and Simone Lia to name a few! All put together by the fantastic Jim Medway. Go and subscribe and why not adopt an animal while you are there.

My story for the issue is about pandas- real ones and toy ones. Pandas are pretty grumpy in real life and also lazy. Go read the full story in issue one now!

Jessica Fletcher Week!

2010-12-06T14:55:00.002Z

I'm behind on blog posts so imagine it is still last week and WOO IT'S JESSICA FLETCHER WEEK on People I Know! Go check out some excellent comics featuring your favourite mystery solver! Here is my entry (above)

Online Comic! Your Opinions!

2010-12-01T18:29:00.000Z

I plan to update the comic much more frequently from today. Look a new comic has appeared already! oh boy! ...and another one! Where are they all coming from? My brain.

I also plan to sprinkle in a few strips from my sold out comics "Waiting For Sushi", "I Love Dinosaurs", "Party Animals" and the zines "A Unicorn Trapped Under a Rainbow, Crying", "Beautiful Candle Boy" and "Yum". This is just because I don't intend to ever get these reprinted and a lot of the content really sets up the characters so I'd like people to read them who missed out. I won't be putting all the content online because I don't want to offend anyone who has spent money on the comics- they will still be special because there are no more copies and some of the stories will be exclusive to the print copies and not appear on the internet. YUP. If anyone has any thoughts on this I'm interested. Or indeed any thoughts at all, do comment. Take a look at this guy- He's worth a comment surely!

Also, I discovered today that my new comic At The Planetarium isn't working in the online shop! This will be fixed by the end of the week so if you have tried to buy one please get in touch or try again on Friday.

I also realise that I still need RSS feed for the online comic- this will happen soon (think of it as your Christmas present- other than that I only bought you coal)

And I plan to do a competition soon too. Maybe.

FUN TIMES FOR COMICS. Fun times.

Alternative Press Fair Fun!

2010-11-25T21:26:00.003Z

This Sunday I'll be at The Alternative Press Fair at St Aloysius Social Club in Euston, London from 12pm - 6pm. I'll be selling my new comic!

Paper Science 3!

2010-11-17T16:06:00.003Z

As well as the new comic and Solipsistic Pop 3 I also have work in Paper Science 3 which will be out this weekend at Thought Bubble! Here is a photo of someone reading my page in the issue from the We Are Words And Pictures website!

At The Planetarium!

2010-11-15T16:16:00.009Z

My new comic "At The Planetarium" is out today! You can buy it from the online shop or from Here Gallery in Bristol, Here and Now Gallery in Cornwall and Orbital Comics in London. I'm sending out copies this week to other stockists too and will be selling it at Thought Bubble this weekend and Alternative Press Fair in a few weeks.

It is the first in a collection of comics based very loosely on the idea of the I Spy books- each will have a theme title of a "day out" adventure and some of the strips inside will be about the theme- so in this comic that will be SPACE! They do not continue so, as with I Spy books, you can buy them as one off books without needing the others or can collect them like a set.

The inside cover is a star chart-

And for a change it is printed in midnight blue ink-

Future comics may or may not include-

"At the Cove"
"At the Circus"
"At the Video Shop"
"At the Safari Park"
"At the Bog"

You can also buy the Hairy Midget Elf toys (now with individual names and date of birth!) in the online shop and prints should be in shop this week too.

Sol Pop Launch!

2010-11-12T02:55:00.004Z

A very late blog which I meant to post earlier....tomorrow is the Solipsistic Pop 3 Launch night! (actually tonight now it's 3am) Details on the website! I'll be there! There will be free pencils and sweets! And I made some of Paperlilies famous rainbow cakes to bring- but not many so I would advice you watch the video and make some yourself if you miss out. I now have hands that look like they are covered in unicorn blood (rainbows)

Lots more to blog about (new comic out on Monday!) but will all have to wait until next week because I must sleep now.

This Weekend!

2010-10-27T23:22:00.003+01:00

Don't forget! This weekend is MCM Expo, I will be there sharing a stall with the talented Joe List and our stall will be packed with excellent things you can purchase (purr-chase as a cat might say)

I will be in costume on Sunday for Halloween and maybe on Saturday too. The costume is a surprise, you will have to come along to see for yourself what I am dressed as. I'm also on the Artists vs Writers thing on the Saturday which had I considered more carefully I may have had second thoughts about coming in fancy dress. Oh well, it's too late now. At least it will be obvious which one of the Artists vs Writers is me- the one with the knitted beard.

I will be bringing sparkly new Keith the Wizard badges, lovely new tote bags, a few tasty new prints and all the old treasures.

Oh and these guys-

Joe List what will you be bringing to the expo?

WHY LOOK AT THIS AMAZING SPACE CASE!

See you there! (unless you forget to print your pass/buy a ticket and can't get in)

One Day Your Prints Will Come....

2010-10-24T21:27:00.001+01:00

Hey hey hey! Prints prints prints!

Prints will soon be available in the shop. I've had these especially done for the launch of the new We Are Birmingham shop where you will be able to buy them framed (amongst other stuff I'll be selling there). I'm only selling unframed versions online for ease of posting and they are all very limited editions. There are 8 different designs of various strips from the comics and images that I've not used on anything before.

Werewolf and Crowd 8x8 inch Square digital prints on recycled heavy weight paper- Limited Edition of 30 of each design. (Crowd will be printed in blue and red)

5 A4 digital prints on recycled heavy weight paper- Limited Edition of 30 of each design. Leopards in Leotards, Depressed Cat, Mega Machines, Food Dudes and Unicorn Flakes.

Mercats A3 digital print on recycled heavy weight paper- Limited Edition of 20.

Perfect for decorating the bare lonely walls of your living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, shed, cave etc. I will probably only bring one or two to the conventions (MCM Expo, Thought Bubble, Alternative Press Fair) over the next month but if you let me know if you want any and I can bring specific ones along to save on postage. If anyone has anything in particular they'd like to see on a print let me know and I'll keep them in mind for any I bring out next year.

If you are local or visiting be sure to go along to the We Are Birmingham shop- it opens on 13th November and will be packed full of wares from the hands of local artists. They are now selling credit notes online to fund the opening of the shop in a three weeks!

The Dino Show!

2010-10-15T15:59:00.001+01:00

I have some Dinosaur Family Portraits on show as part of this exhibition at Double Punch in San Francisco which is on at the moment. Here is one of the drawings I'm selling there-

Take a look at the website for photos if you can't make it there!

*UPDATE* You can now buy the artwork online here!

New Totes! New Badges! New Website!

2010-10-12T19:51:00.000+01:00

In time for MCM Expo in a couple of weeks I will have new badges, stickers and tote bags! They are already in the online shop (although the tote bags don't have actual photos yet because they are not back from the screen printers until next week)

The tote bags are being screen printed in various colours on pink, blue and natural cotton bags by the excellent people at Get A Grip. They feature the 100 characters crowd design!

And here are the new Keith Badges-

And new stickers-

Tote bag photos soon!

ALSO------> The new website is due to be live online this Wednesday evening! Be sure to take a look then for launch night comic sushi!

100!

2010-10-11T15:47:00.002+01:00

I drew this in celebration of reaching 100 blog followers a week or so ago.... I think it shows over 100 characters. Can you name them all? I can't. I'm going to do one of those numbered Sgt Pepper style maps of all the characters on it at some point. Thanks for following this blog!

Creepy Disney!

2010-10-05T13:44:00.010+01:00

I'm a big fan of Disney but perhaps more so I'm a fan of CREEPY DISNEY! Not too creepy but like in the episode of the Simpsons when there is the "other" Simpsons family who are the same but not quite right. I have a tumblr dedicated to bad Ice Cream Van Character paintings (which I don't update much because I always forget) and I collect creepy vintage Disney toys (I'll add a photo at the end of this blog post of some recent car boot finds). Anyway, the reason I mention all this is because recently I bought this amazing print by Gemma Correll (available in her Etsy shop)-

And in Berlin I bought this great book by Paul Waak.

As I seem to be gathering a few items on this theme I'm thinking perhaps of creating a display wall of the things I've collected one day...maybe a bathroom wall feature to make guests uneasy. So imagine my excitement to see today's Freak Leap comic by Joe List!!

Who has since sent me the link to this print by Ian Stevenson- (sadly I don't have £60 spare to buy one!)

I've done a few Mickey cartoons myself but will save those for future online comic updates (one is on there from ages ago already!) Yep. So, creepy Disney- watch out for it.

(The big head Mickey is from 1971 and when you pull his pull string head it says things like "oh BOY!)

Solipsistic Pop Previews.

2010-10-02T13:59:00.000+01:00

WELL FOLKS my new website is NEARLY finished and I hope to launch it in the next week or two. When it is up I'll be back to full updates with the online comic pretty soon. I'm working on lots of new stuff so have been very busy- this stuff includes a 4 page story for Solipsistic Pop 3- for which you can see a few preview pages by other artists on the website. Here is a sneak panel from mine which I showed on twitter a while back.

And check out the awesome cover by Marc Ellerby! Yeah!

There was an excellent review on The Comics Journal this week about Solipsistic Pop 2. I don't usually quote on here (or anywhere) but it mentioned my Sour Rabbit and Crispy Duck pages and I wanted to comment on the last bit-

"The book goes a bit more lo-fi with the funny animal adventures of a pair of sad sacks named Sour Rabbit and Crispy Duck, a cutely rendered tale by Lizz Lunney that hits the usual middle-school and adult loser beats with a few funny twists. The fact that it ends on a cliffhanger is more than a little annoying for an anthology that comes out so rarely."

I guess it is pretty annoying that it ends on a cliffhanger! My reason for this is that I intended it as a sample of a longer (book length) story which I'm working on. I probably already linked the Avoid The Future review from a few months ago which also goes into detail on Sour Rabbit and Crispy Duck- I've found it really interesting getting some in-depth feedback on these particular characters just because of the fact it is part of a bigger thing. Luckily (for anyone else who thought the same) my comic in issue 3 is a complete story!

Berlin!

2010-10-02T13:25:00.003+01:00

You can now buy Big Cat Parade in Berlin again in Big Brobot (above) and Modern Graphics.

While I was there I went to an awesome exhibition at Neurotitan by some of Berlin's best artists. Here are a few photos of the giant mural by Mawil (his comics are published by Blank Slate in the UK) and some other artists who sadly I don't know the names of (if someone can let me know that would be great) I'll add the rest of the photos to my flickr later this week.

Birmingham Zine Festival Fun Times!

2010-09-27T19:48:00.000+01:00

I'm not going to say much here because there are a few excellent reviews of the stall day online which are (or soon will be) linked on the Birmingham Zine Festival Website. I need to catch up on adding photos to the flickr, updating the website with interviews and stuff etc but just wanted to give a quick mention here to say thanks to everyone who came and made it such a success! It was a super busy day and lots of fun. I just wish I had been attending as a regular customer so I could have spent longer looking at all the great stuff people had for sale. I managed to grab Bunny's new zine which is super brilliant as well as some of James Nash's comics which I asked him to draw on for me......take a look what he drew-

Look Closer...
Look CLOSER...IT'S ME!

BZF!

2010-09-11T00:29:00.004+01:00

This blog post is a bit late but a reminder that tomorrow (well, today- in 9 hours or so) I'll be at Birmingham Zine festival! Birmingham's very first zine and small press festival!

Look at the amazing poster by James Nash-

The event is sponsored by The Brothers McLeod who will be showing animations all day and there will also be acoustic music by Simon Fox, Winston Echo and Bom and his Magic Drumstick! There will also be T shirt printing, zine making, starting your own event and drop in and draw workshops! And goodie bags for the first 100 people!

I got a new sewing machine this week and made bunting for the event-

The colour selection^ I got Pistachio -

My first sewing on the machine! (yep this blog post is fascinating huh!)

And the amateur bunting (looking rather creased hm)

Anyway, this means I can sew some more of the sold out Hairy Midget Elf toys and maybe some other characters!

See you tomorrow!

Influence Map

2010-09-07T01:04:00.004+01:00

Wow I certainly spent too much time on this but hey, here is my influence map. Click to enlarge. I'm pretty sure I missed some obvious ones but it was an interesting exercise. I was shocked to discover that more of my influences that I realised were from animation- especially early animations that I used to watch on compilation vhs tapes that my Granddad would tape for me from the TV! (so really Felix should be in there somewhere too) Anyway, the idea came from John Allison's blog but I believe he was inspired by Aaron Diaz's Indistinguishable From Magic blog. A few others have done them too- go see Adam Cadwell's and Joe List's influences.

Comical Animal!

2010-09-03T14:14:00.005+01:00

Today is the launch of of Comical Animal with a special preview issue!

The first proper first launch issue will be the 3rd December so this is just a taste of what it will be like! Go over to the website now and sign up so you don't miss out...

Here is a snippit of my page, "Peter and Pauly in Human Land" Inspired by characters and rhyme from the TinyTots annual 1956! but you'll have to go over to the site to read the full story!

Out of This World!

2010-09-03T14:09:00.004+01:00

I am one of the artists in this 52 page colouring book featuring 40 Threadless alumni! Threadless are giving away free 16 page versions (see video below) of the book with kids orders (my page is only in the full book though!) Available here!

365 - 214 - Out of this World. A Coloring & Activity Book from Threadless.com on Vimeo.

Cat Odes!

2010-09-03T13:53:00.003+01:00

This is the first of THREE blog posts with details of some projects I've been part of recently. The first- Cat Odes! A kitty anthology dedicated to helping out real life cats. 75% of proceeds will be donated to ASPCA® so go grab yourself a copy here!

LOVERPOOL

2010-08-27T18:05:00.004+01:00

This Sunday I will be at the MCC Drink and Draw in Manchester! And on Saturday I'm going to Liverpool for magical mystery tour fun. WOO!

Also-the new site design should be up online by next week hopefully!

I had a fun time at the Comica event last weekend- I was most excited to discover the amazing work of Soju Tanaka...I'm pretty sure if you like my comics you will like his too so go take a look!

Don't forget that it is only two weeks until Birmingham Zine Festival! And the exhibitions go up next week! :oD

Orbital Exhibition!

2010-08-18T00:02:00.002+01:00

I had some work up recently for the Solipsistic Pop exhibition at Orbital Comics in London! Above are a few photos they sent me. They have my new comics in stock (but think they are running low so I'll take more in by this weekend!)

I'll be in London for the Comica Festiva Comiket event this Sunday- I don't have a stall but I'll be milling around and drinking tea and eating biscuits.

Everyday!

2010-08-12T16:16:00.003+01:00

Hey look I drew a comic for Adam Cadwell's last ever instalment of The Everyday! Go see!

Online Comic Sushi- just a note to say that I'm away for part (read: a lot) of August so unsure of how exactly I will be able to update the comic each day without internet... There will be a comic for each day but in some cases (possibly end of next week) they will be delayed and there may be a few together! Yep, bad comic practice I know and I didn't consider this before starting the one a day this month...doh. However I intend to make up for this by continuing the comics after August for as long as I can on a one a day basis... (so two extra days I'm guessing!) WOO HOO!

Comic Sushi begins!

2010-08-03T01:06:00.001+01:00

The new website will be here in a week or two but I have started the ONE A DAY comic for August anyway, it is a bit delayed because I was at Caption but I have uploaded the first 3 comics (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday!) Go take a look at the other two here! (first one shown above)

ONE A DAY COMIC SUSHI!!

2010-07-30T22:48:00.006+01:00

I will be running the ONE A DAY online comic sushi again this August .......BUT.....

The website is currently undergoing a mega re-design which probably won't be up in time for the start of August

and

This weekend I will be at Caption in Oxford so won't be around on the 1st to upload the first comic!

Sooooo....I will make up for this on Monday by adding a couple of comics then and will probably add the first few here on the blog until the website is finished and then move them over there!

Sorry this is a pretty boring blog here are a few images of my new business cards to brighten it up....(yep they are moo cards if you wondered)

This week!

2010-07-26T22:35:00.003+01:00

Tomorrow my comics will be sold at the first ever Stirchley Community Market in Birmingham. The market will feature stalls selling wholefoods, bread, hot curry, wood-fired pizza, artisan preserves, cupcakes, local fruit and vegetables, and local arts and crafts! yum

Then on Saturday and Sunday I will be at Caption in Oxford. My comics will be on the communal stall but I'll also be there with Philippa Rice, Timothy Winchester and Howard Hardiman as part of the Dino-Saw-Us sticker game and on the webcomics panel on the Saturday!

Shop news!

2010-07-20T20:57:00.005+01:00

A quick bit of shop news- I'm almost sold out of I Love Dinosaurs and Waiting for Sushi, the last few will be available in the shop until next week!! I have no plans to reprint them again...EVER! DUN DUN DUN. So if you've always wanted a copy or as a gift or have read your copy so much that it is covered in fingerprints and creased pages smeared in tears and blood then order a fresh shiny copy before next week! I may have a couple on stalls until I finally can't find any more lurking around my house but I estimate there are less than 5 copies of each left so they won't last long...

Also, I was sad to hear that building work has threatened one of my all time favourite comic shops OK Comics in Leeds. If you live in Leeds, or even if you don't- go buy plenty of comics from them to help them get through this (buy online here and here!)

I will have news of stockists updates soon- also my website is undergoing a bit of a redesign so should be changing over summer- and the online comic hasn't died, it will be back soon!

ANDDD one more thing while you are here (you're still here right?) I'll be at Caption with the Dino-Saw-Us team in two weeks so be sure to come along for prizes and special stickers and sweets. Oh and comics.

Chris' Charity Cycle Ride

2010-07-06T22:45:00.002+01:00

My friend Chris will be cycling 750 miles through France to England to raise money for the charity SIFA Fireside. I drew these for him. For more details and to follow his journey look here and make a donation here!

Can't Buy Me Love Market!

2010-06-24T23:01:00.009+01:00

This Saturday I'll be at the Can't Buy Me Love Market at the Boogaloo in London along with My Cardboard Life. 12.30 to 5.30 and it's free! We will be selling the usual comics and badges and things as well as a heap of vintage stuff (if I can carry it all) clothes and jewels such like! Come along any buy things so I don't have to carry it all home again ok!

Oh and they have an "authentic 1970's vintage Photo Booth" there apparently so, you know, bonus fun.

Vinyl!

2010-06-16T20:46:00.008+01:00

Huh? What's that you say? You want some lizzlizz.com drawings for your walls at home? well....

OK!

You can now get my drawings as vinyl to put on your walls/laptops/doors/fridges/faces* from vinyler.com. Click on artists to see the designs by me! You can pick the size and colour too! wow!

*not really faces, sorry

More wall painting!

2010-06-16T20:39:00.003+01:00

Here are some photos of the finished wall from the live paint day on Saturday! (see previous post for details) It was fun, I want to paint more walls now! All the walls!