The Pain of Who We Aren't

"Take a look at yourself in the mirror.

Do you look like you? Do you look like you want to? Hopefully you do, but most of us don't. Most of us feel STUCK with the person in the mirror. But I also know that if you feel you want to be someone else, or somewhere else, THAT PAIN is exactly what you should be writing and drawing about...

In fact, I will go to the mat about this: any story worth a damn is about someone who is somewhere they don't want to be.

I'm going to say that again: Every good story is about someone who is not who they want to be, but who pushes on anyway…

A couple weeks ago, we tried our hands at DRAWING LIKE A FILMMAKER with David Lasky, but can you believe it's been over a year since we made HAIKU COMICS (with David Lasky)?

We learned about how newspaper comic stripes with silent panels can be similar to how haikus are formatted,

we learned how comic stripes could also work with haikus incorporated in them, 

and we learned how we can focus on the little moments in comics using this exercise.

“Make small things. Find friends to counter the “bad” voice.

Do "unimportant" things (like small things, fast things, like journal in the notebook things, single panels, just faces, etc.) - the critics tend to be quelled a little when they think what you are doing is unimportant…”

Animated faces can SHOW a reader what WORDS sometimes can't, or purposefully don't. One extra line could change a neutral face to a sad one, or a happy face to a scary face.

Come join us in our most affordable, online ongoing-community SAW FLOW + PUBLISH MEMBERSHIP GROUP (comes with a two-week free trial) to join in on MONTHLY PRO-CALLS!

Once a month, we bring in comic professionals from all walks of life to guest speak (virtually) at SAW. These guest speakers give SAW students/members some insight from their personal experiences throughout their comics career and welcome questions at the end of each session. Come join us!

Our next Monthly-Pro Call is with Tom Devlin of Drawn & Quarterly!

Creativity and health practices come together every Saturday, 10 AM Eastern, forever.

In case you've missed this amazing opportunity, we've partnered with Georgia Webber at Drawing the Inside Out.

Drawing Health is an ongoing series of live practice sessions that connect health and creativity for a sustainable and satisfying art practice.

Have you had trouble drawing hands? Hands can be hard!

One of our students shared a PDF with resources that they use to help them draw hands and we’re here to share it with you! Link below.

Try to focus on "what I have in my hands right now" (skills and abilities) not “who I wish I was of Future Me Who is Much Better at Drawing and Socializing and Unafraid of All Things.”

Do you ever have trouble celebrating your milestones? Your achievements? No matter how “small” they may seem? See what SAW Instructor and friend, Jess Ruliffson, shared about her thoughts about these feelings.

Our online Year-Long Intensive Program students recently tried their hands at POLYOMINOES. “What the heck is a polyomino?” Check out our blog to find out!

SAW Friday Night Comics Workshop - Drawing Diary Comics with Ellen O'Grady. Friday January 28th, 2022 @ 7PM EST

Cartoonist and SAW instructor, Jess Ruliffson, posted a quote from a book she recommends centering on process.

"It's okay if you weren't brave enough or ready to write what you really needed to write. You will be next time." - Kristen Radke. (Quote from Before and After The Book Deal by Courtney Maum, a great book I recommend).

A personal comic by SAW member and Alumni, Kevin Curley, regarding process, growth, and identity as a cartoonist.

A great post from Tom Hart on the conversation about art, and towards posterity.

Towards recognition.

TWO FOR ONE! We have TWO PRO-CALLS this month! Gain access to this call and future MONTHLY PRO-CALLS by joining a SAW membership or course (i.e. Comics Flow + Publish, Graphic Memoir, Alumni Group, etc.). Explore our ONLINE COURSES link in our bio!

Friday Night Workshop: A Comics Letter to the Past with Natalie Norris! Friday, December 17th @ 7PM EST

Haiku Comics with David Lasky! (Free and open to everyone)

Friday, December 10th @ 8PM EDT

Invite your friends! This is a free event that's open to the public.

This workshop is for adults but rated PG, and kids and teens are welcome with their parents. Registrants must have a Zoom account and can only access from one device.

Let Ourselves Shine! We are organizing ourselves into communities, and sharing our selves, the best we can. See more from this topic in our free online community full of thoughts about making art, why we make art, and more.

Values, Goals and Systems! A recent student in the graphic memoir group mentioned their "maladaptive systems", and how they're doing a memoir about them. And it got me thinking about the hierarchy --which I'm sure I heard somewhere, but I can't remember where-- of values, goals, and systems…

Our next Friday Night Comics Workshop is with Nicole J. Georges! Develop a daily practice of combining comics and self-care by charting your emotions and drawing yourself into joyful and soothing situations.