Carey Draws - a sketchblog by Carey Pietsch

This blog has pretty much moved to http://careydraws.tumblr.com/

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Mon, 19 May 2014 12:29:00 +0000

Hey folks- I'm not officially shutting this blog down, but I've been updating much more regularly over on Tumblr, so come chat over there!

comics comics & comics

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 21 Feb 2014 13:16:00 +0000

It's been quiet over here lately. I talk up a storm and post lots of sketches/ WIPs over on twitter these days, so you're welcome to pop over and join me there.

In the works: I've gone into full comics hermit mode to finish a new comic by MOCCA! Based on last year's 24-hour comic, but it got a full rewrite and is now being redrawn. Get psyched.

Recently completed: hourly comics day was 2/1!

The whole day is up here. I'll print up itty bitty minis for MOCCA/ABPCC/TCAF, too.

coming up soon!

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Mon, 27 Jan 2014 12:00:00 +0000

Don’t forget! It’s good low-pressure comics fun. I usually pre-make some panels so I don’t have to think too hard. Mine from 2013 are up here as well as on the forum. Post em online, make a mini, feed em to your dog, do whatever you want with em!

Like John Campbell said, you don’t have to draw a lot to enjoy making these. It’s a fun journaling exercise, and even really simple doodled figures can be a nice little snapshot of your day.

what time is it?!

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 17:55:00 +0000

My favorite assignment from last year: I got to do a cover for Adventure Time! I got the ok to post the cover, but it’s been moved to come out with a future as-yet-unannounced issue later this year- I’ll keep you posted :)

It’s heist-movie-poster-themed. Thanks to wonderful AD Whitney Leopard for really letting me stretch the definition of ‘heist movie’ to include one in which the heist is over in the first 10 minutes. Totally counts.

I've gotta hunch it's gonna be a good year

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 20:02:00 +0000

10ish minute self portrait sketch. I'd love to tell you my posture isn't usually this bad but let's be honest; it's pretty awful.

is anybody really surprised that I picked a dragon to draw

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 18:53:00 +0000

I've been trying out easing back into right-handed work a little bit at a time. Don't want to overdo it!

Here's a quick sketch for a collaborative project, drawing a bunch of mario characters. Hooktail was a boss in paper mario: thousand year door.

color & tone

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 11:30:00 +0000

Only a few weeks left of class! Here's some stuff from a bit earlier. The plaster casts were lovely, but the eggplant was surprisingly fun on the 3rd or 4th try.

be nice to your wrists!

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 22 Nov 2013 11:30:00 +0000

I ('m dumb and I) gave myself tendinitis through a combo of a death grip on my palette knife and sheer overuse this semester. Tablet drawing and any kind of sketching is unfortunately out for the next 3-4 weeks, but I was really happy to figure out in life drawing class this week that I can actually coax decent use out of my left hand if I work large enough! Acrylics are really helpful for this because of how quickly you can go over your work/ correct jumps, too. So yay paint; yay working on oversize paper; boo inflamed tendons.

hana doki kiranimals

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 11:37:00 +0000

Just a few of the ~wondrous animals~ featured in hana doki kira! Getting close to the first stretch goal of a magical shimmery cover, which I think will make the whole thing pretty darn classy.

Connection Lost- a comic about vanished internet friends

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 08 Nov 2013 14:20:00 +0000

I'm now converting this blog into a missed connections center for internet friends from the days of dialup. Hit up the comics archive for all future actual comics; craigslist-style posts only here from here on out.

I put this up on Tumblr and I've been just overwhelmed by the volume of sad, sweet, similar stories in the tags and replies- pour one out for all the vanished pals out there!

hana doki kira kickstarter is live!

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 01 Nov 2013 15:35:00 +0000

The Hana Doki Kira kickstarter launched this week (and is already more than a third of the way to its goal!), so I wanted to post a little preview of the work I’ll have in it! This is a tiny chunk of an illustration and the first page of a (related, chronologically taking place later) four-page comic. I love the concept for the book, I’ve been blown away by the quality of work in it, and I’m just thrilled to get to be a part of it all.

Hana Doki Kira is a celebration of all things shoujo, organized by the brilliant Year 85 group and featuring comics and illustrations from 27 artists. Rebecca Mock made a handy masterpost of all the contributors, and a bunch of folks (Leslie Hung, Aimee Fleck, Janet Sung, Megan Brennan, Rebecca, and many more!) have already posted snippets of their pieces if you want to get a sense of the wide range of gorgeous work in the book. There’ll be more in the HDK tumblr and facebook page over the next few weeks, for sure. Annie (who invited me- thank you!!) mentioned that if Volume 1 is successful, they may be able to take submissions for Volume 2 somewhere down the line, so keep your eyes peeled!

Basically: everyone involved in this is AMAZING and the project is SUPER COOL so you should CHECK IT OUT. If it’s not a good time for you to back the kickstarter financially, every signal boost is a huge help : ) We all really appreciate it!

doki doki

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 10:00:00 +0000

Preview of the illustration I'm working on for Hana Doki Kira! Related to the short comic I'm also working on, but can stand on its own as well.

And one of my favorite panels from Philly's 24-hour comics day this past weekend! I'm going to clean up a ton of this comic and will have a final version either at asbury park comic con or TCAF in 2014, but I should also have the messy, unedited version up online in a week or so.

ccp, 24hcd, and PSC

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 18 Oct 2013 13:20:00 +0000

Recent work from the painting course I'm taking up at CCP. Gettin real friendly with blocks.

If you're around South Street this weekend between noon on Saturday and noon on Sunday, I'll be doing the 24-hour comics day challenge with a bunch of other Philly cartoonists at Atomic City Comics! You're welcome to visit me, but I only have 2 minutes per hour budgeted for visits, so practice your best speed-chatting : ) I'm totally cheating this year and bringing in a few prep/ plot sheets, but I think I'll make a better-paced comic for it.

I'll be posting pages as I finish them on Twitter in super-low resolution and shaky cam, so you can get a peek that way if you can't wait for Asbury Park Comic Con - or TCAF, if I get in!- for the final thing.

And if you want a real treat, you can see me at my most sleep-deprived from 2-3 PM Sunday at the Philly Sketch's Club's Phillustration show opening, which I'll have a few pieces in! I will be groggy, punchy, and altogether delightful to be around. Come hang.

more teens'n'cats

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 11 Oct 2013 14:29:00 +0000

Testing out various PS brushes for inking. This is one of Kyle Webster's; it's meant to mimic a pocket brush pen and I think it does a solid job.

I have two gals left to solidify designs for, but by the end of this session I was just cranking out samefaces everywhere, so taking a brief break and giving it another shot soon!

full circle

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Sat, 05 Oct 2013 02:19:00 +0000

Author portrait and some char design sketches for Hana Doki Kira, an anthology celebrating shojo manga that I was invited to contribute to! I'm making a very short comic and one big illustration, which I'm super excited to show you more about in the next several weeks as we approach the kickstarter kickoff.

ALSO, Philadelphians, come visit me at Locust Moon Comics Fest on Saturday! I'll be there all day, tabling with Kelly, so look for the blue Dirty Diamonds bunting.

Also also, in two weeks I'm doing 24-hour comics day at Atomic City on South Street, so plan to visit and watch me weep tears of pure ink.

mice mice mice

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 12:13:00 +0000

Going up to Boston this weekend for MICE, a con I hear is super-cool-- and it's also free, so stop by and check it out! Looking forward to something a little smaller than SPX.

Look for the blue dirty diamonds hanging banner! We're pretty visible : )

sweater weather

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 18:44:00 +0000

It's actually chilly outside in the mornings here in Philly now! Drawing Fionna in fall outfits to refrain from buying them myself.

Left-hand drawing is marker and cheapo brush pen; right-hand is all digital. Still trying to find a happy medium (ha ha, ha. . . ha) between the two!

SPX 2013!

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Thu, 19 Sep 2013 00:21:00 +0000

Fig. 1: Me trying my best to act casual any time any of you wonderful people (yes, you!!) came by my table this weekend.
Or when I came to your table, or when I ran into you at the tumblr meetup, or pretty much any time at all! I had so much fun and remembered how much I really dig talking to people about things they enjoy- and everybody there enjoyed the heck outta comics, so it was pretty much perfect. I'd wanted to go to SPX for a long time, finally volunteered there two years ago and made a solemn vow to table someday.

Fig 2: COMICS. Left - right and top - bottom, these are:
Creep by Kayla Miller ; Asylum 1 & 2 by Allie Kleber; Home by Josiah Files ; Bitter Sweet by Kat Fajardo ; Ghost town by Katie McDermott; Oh, the things you won't know! by Kelly Phillips, who I tabled with along with Claire Folkman!

Strong Female Protagonist by Molly Ostertag & Brennan Lee Mulligan; Slacker comics by Doug Slack; A Pantomime Horse 1 by Ben Passmore; Solid Sight by Rebecca Mock ; The Worm Troll by Sam Alden.

Journey to the Valley of Whispers by Molly Ostertag; Burn the Bridges of Arta by Amelia Onorato; Fantasy Baseball by Sam Bosma; Hoard by Jerel Dye ; Pencil Pup by Megan Brennan ; Those who Travel alone by Britt Sabo.

The Door by Aimee Fleck; Urban Nomad By Alisa Harris; Edna by Sophie Goldstein; Ice by Sophie Goldstein; free space! ; Over Easy by Win Evans.

Pretty Creepy by Melissa Lomax & Christian Patchell; Trust by Laura Knetzger & Christopher M. Jones; Book of Monsters by June Vigants; Good demons by Miranda Harmon; Carrot Boyfriend by Jessi Zabarsky; 6 Reasons why Cthulu has NO friends by Jacob Thompson; Cartozia Tales by a million awesome artists!! ; I Was A Teenage Anime, also by a million wonderful people; Stolen Lovelight by Paul and Tara Abbamondi- (shh I actually got this one earlier but the square needed completing).

Fig 3: PRINTS
Yao Xiao; Natalie Andrewson; Steve Conley; Ali Wilgus; Evan Palmer.
Kali Ciesemier; Rebecca Mock; Cathy G. Johnson.
Rebecca Mock; Rebekka Dunlap; Rachel Suggs; Mike Mitchell; Jeremy Sorese.

Phew. The wonderful/scary thing: I KNOW there are just about as many artists again that I didn't make it over to, or didn't know would be there and missed entirely! And I think there are still more awesome comics and postcards hiding in my totally still packed suitcase.
Overall: comics are great, cartoonists are making wonderful things, and I can't wait to come back next year. Big thanks to all the SPX staff and volunteers for making it such a great show! Until then- See you at MICE and Locust Moon Fest : )

Small Press Expo 2013!

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 12:27:00 +0000

I'm going to be tabling at SPX this weekend! I've wanted to do this for several years, and I'm thrilled to be heading down to the expo this afternoon. I got to visit in 2011, and it's an amazing convention- if you're on the east coast, love comics, and want to check out an awesome selection of work, you should come!

Photos are some of the prints and comics I'll have with me, plus a longer preview of the snapdragon queen.

home stretch

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 12:50:00 +0000

Tones! I'm trying out using copic sketch markers instead of digital tones- #s 1,2,3, and sometimes 4.

And a bunch of completed postcard-sized prints that double as actual postcards! WOW.

I leave for SPX in a week! I'm in a bit of a blur of preparation right now- just a little more cleanup to do before I send everything to get printed, take a deep breath, and then dive right back into folding, stapling, and trimming : )

If you're around Bethesda, come see me next weekend at table I3! I'll also be tabling at MICE in Boston two weeks after that, and Locust Moon in Philly the weekend of 10/5. It's going to be a busy fall- I'm excited!

I don't know where he got that little blanket though

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 12:56:00 +0000

I participated in my first Ten Paces and Draw swap a few weeks ago! It was due to go up on the site back at the start of the month, but I think things have been busy there and it hasn't made it up quite yet- so here's Paul Bunyan and a tiny blue Babe.

I should have postcard-sized prints of this illustration and several others at SPX- more on that soon : )

4 weeks left?!

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 11:27:00 +0000

I am going to work on this comic until I collapse and then I am going to request that a tablet and laptop be brought to my bed so I can keep right on making it. Still deciding on a cover design!

AGH 5 weeks left

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 09:30:00 +0000

If you don't see me between now & SPX, it's because I have retreated entirely into my studio/ room to finish the biggest sequential project I've ever tackled. It's called The Snapdragon Queen, and it's a 42-page story in verse which is kind of about gardening, but also kind of about grief and resilience in an odd quasi-fantasy setting. And maybe something sinister is going on?!? But for now: here's the queen & her mildly scruffy beau.

I also just made a quick, short, sad comic about a very sweet cat who died this week, which you can see up on twitter. Might be cleaned up at some later date.

hammers and ice skates and skulls, oh my

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 12:28:00 +0000

Classwork dump from the past two weeks of Drawing II! I am collecting quite a hoard of random kitchen appliances.

philly comix jam: asking the important questions

noreply@blogger.com (Carey Pietsch) — Wed, 31 Jul 2013 11:00:00 +0000

I like the hook-weapon I came up with. Hook-flail?