Launch Party SUNDAY

Normally I don't plug the same event more than once, but hey...
this is my FIRST BOOK AND I'M REALLY EXCITED! So here are 8 reasons you should come to my book launch party.

1. The amazing Alyson Greenfield will perform live music, including a NEW SONG inspired by "Page by Paige!" You have to see this girl, seriously.

2. We'll debut a NEW TRAILER made by Portland Filmmaker Nathan Luppino! Even I have not seen it yet.

3. Laura Lee will do her first LIVE READING from her book! There will be blushing.

4. A cigarette girl will be applying BLOCK PRINTS on people!

5. You can have your fill-in-the-voice-bubble COMIC PORTRAIT taken! (It'll make sense when you see it...)

6. FREE GOODIES! Nibbles, surprise-filled easter eggs, fun permission slips, and more.

7. FREE RAFFLE! Prizes include signed copies of "Page by Paige," book soundtrack CDs, zines, and (gasp!) an ORIGINAL DRAWING from the book!

8. The weather looks like it should be nice, so afterwards we can go hang out in BROOKLYN BRIDGE PARK! (bring a blanket and discreet refreshments if you wish)

******This Sunday. 4:00 sharp. Powerhouse Arena. DUMBO*****
Check out the event on the Powerhouse website and on Facebook.

Artistic License

Do you need some creative encouragement? Well...here, sign an ARTISTIC LICENSE! You can draw up your own, or you can print this one off. Either way, you can put it on your desk or in your wallet to remind you to stop thinking so much and get back to making stuff.


If you print off this one, it's the size of a regular business card: 3.5 x 2 inches. Or you can print off a while sheet if you want to share it:

Egg follow-up

This weekend I hid about 200 eggs just in time for Easter, with my lovely assistants Diana, Daniel, and Anton. (Real life Agents of Whimsy!) The eggs ended up in Bushwick, Williamsburg, Park Slope, SOHO, Chelsea, the Meatpacking District, and a mixture of subway stations such as Rockefeller Center & Bedford/Nostrand. All over the place!







Anton and I put lot in the Highline Park since there were lots of families out enjoying Easter Sunday...


Here are some women finding an egg. I overheard one comment as she walked past me that she thought it was so cynical of her that she immediately thought it was trash at first rather than something nice. I wonder what other people thought when they found them...



Check out this nice email I received:
"I found a blue egg and it certainly made my day! It was sitting on the iron gate that surrounds a subway station entrance/exit on the street level...I’m an anthropologist and just had to pick it up and see what was inside. I’ve always been curious about these kinds of artifacts and hoped it would be something thoughtful in a meaningful way and not chewed gum or something worse. Thank you so much!"
Martha
Nutley, New Jersey

Keeps your eyes peeled for eggs, I'm sure there are still many hidden out there! And if you do find one, I'd love to hear about it. (lauraleegulledge@gmail.com)

Easter Egg Caper

Life imitating art!

In my graphic novel "Page by Paige" the characters (Together known as the Agents of Whimsy) fill plastic easter eggs with surprises and leave them around for people to discover.


This was inspired by something my friends and I did back in college in Virginia, but I thought it would be fun to try this here in New York! I've stuffed over 400 plastic eggs, I'll be placing many of them around New York this weekend just in time for Easter. Then I'll be giving the rest away at my upcoming book events.


Inside each smiley-face adorned egg is a star sticker, an encouraging fortune, an eraser for making mistakes, a life saver, and a postage-stamp-sized card with my website.


If you ended up at this website because YOU found an egg, I hope it brightened your day! And if you'd like to comment on the circumstances when/how you found it, I would love to hear about it: lauraleegulledge@gmail.com

Kids CC Recap/ Launch Party Next Week!

*KIDS COMIC CON*

This past weekend I trekked up to the Bronx to take part in Kids Comic Con! I did a small workshop, and the fact that everyone left with some new drawing ideas inspired by MY process made me very happy. (Hooray thinking in metaphors!) I also had some great conversations with other comic artists, such as Raina Telgemeier and Yuko Ota.



*PAGE BY PAIGE - BOOK LAUNCH PARTY*

It's time to say THANK YOU for all you folks who have supported/ encouraged/ inspired me while making this book come to life! (If you can't make it, don't fret! I'll be doing a bunch of workshops at different NYC bookstores over the next month.)

Sunday, May 1st
Powerhouse Books
37 Main Street (DUMBO) Brooklyn, NY
Facebook Event

4:00-5:00
There will be a short reading and then a live musical performance by glockenspiel-yielding-quirky-rapper Alyson Greenfield! She's writing an original song just for the occasion. Don’t be late or you won’t receive a raffle ticket for some goodies...including an original DRAWING from the book!

5:00-6:00
We'll finish the formal stuff and hang out....You can have a Paige-inspired block print stamped on you by a cigarette girl, nibble on light refreshments, snag freebies, and have your fill-in-the-voice-bubble cartoon portrait taken! And of course I'll be signing copies of the book.

After 6:00ish
We'll either head across the street into Brooklyn Bridge Park for the best waterside view of Manhattan OR we'll head over to Rebar for drinks. (Depending on the weather and what folks are in the mood for.)



Currently Reading: Peanut Butter & Jeremy's Best Book Ever! by James Kochalka

Kids Comic Con Tomorrow

Tomorrow I'll be promoting Page by Paige at Kids Comic Con!


TOMORROW Saturday April 15th!
I'll be at the Abrams table 12-5:00.(And doing a short workshop sometime in there...)
At Bronx Community College: Colston Hall, 181st Street & University
Closest subway is 4 Train: 181st Street
Under 18: free, Over 18: $5

Debut at MOCCA Fest!

"Page by Paige" premiered at the MOCCA Fest this past weekend here in New York!

The Abrams table was in a prime location right by the front entrance.

While signing the books I doodled picture frames, birds, and tulips inside the front cover. Everyone who came by was super kind and complimentary!

A couple of the Abrams folks would be holding up my book to get the attention of the passing people. (Doesn't he look thrilled?! Haha...)

I got to sign books next to the legendary Jerry Robinson, who was the creator of the Joker! He was there promoting his new book, "Jerry Robinson: Ambassador of Comics."

I also got to sit with Michael Uslan who is known for producing the Batman films. He also writes Archie, so was there promoting his new book "Archie Marries..."

We sold all the copies of "Page by Paige" but ONE! Hooray! The Abrams team really did a great job.

And I just had to share this photo of Kurt and I taken by Andrea Sparacio. Because comics couples are cute.

My first wheat paste

A couple years ago I hung up some street art under the name Karat (brass etchings!) and I've been meaning to get back into it. I thought I'd start by hanging up drawings with wheat paste, especially since the main character in "Page by Paige" embarks on doing wheat pastes herself!



I made an altered vision chart which is actually to scale so you CAN use it to check your vision. I made it for Kurt, it reads: "I do see you love adore cherish I'm sorry the fears sometimes interfere Remember our hears unwavering I trust you to see me too."

I hung it directly across the street from our stoop so we could see it when we're coming and going.


Unfortunately I made the paste in a rather slap-dash fashion, so it ended up not taking to the wall. Ack! Now I'm remaking the paste (more attentively this time) and I'll be testing it out some more.


I have a bunch of other wheat pastes and etchings ready to hang, so there will be lots of pics of street art coming!

Currently Listening: We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions...Bruce Springsteen

You've got mail!

Five and a half years ago while living in an old motel room in Virginia, I decided that my art needed to be published somehow as a book. But I thought it would resemble something like Sabrina Ward Harrison or Maira Kalman's illustrative books...the term graphic novel was not even in my vocabulary.

Flash forward to now, where I am living in Brooklyn and receiving two boxes in the mail from the printer with copies of Page by Paige. MY BOOK.

These are the paperbacks...

And the hardcover version...

When I picked up the first one and opened it up, I just started to cry. Because it finally sunk in that this was for-real-no-joke-actually happening. This was my book!

I love how it looks without the dust jacket...

And how can YOU get your hands on a copy? Well, it comes out on MAY 1st so you can either preorder it on a site like Amazon or come to one of my upcoming events. Details to come!

Currently reading: Potential by Ariel Schrag

Behind the Scenes: Photo Diary

I thought I'd share a little BEHIND-THE-SCENES PHOTO DIARY!

Making this book has been a very special/challenging/inspiring experience for me, so it's been weird not to share a lick of it with anyone. To be alone and isolated the whole time. It's been really hard. The thought of sharing what has become my daily routine makes it feel somehow, less lonely. So here are some pictures from my life as hermit...

This is where I spend all my time. It's surrounded by old props I've painted from the Macy's windows. Every morning I'd pull out my quota for the day (3/4 pages) that I'd be penciling or inking.

This Macy's prop says it all! I've never had to push myself so hard, keeping myself working passionately 7 days a week totally unsupervised for 7 months straight. It's been an exercise in self-discipline.

"Getting ready for work" for me has meant rolling out of bed, brushing my teeth and putting on a bra. And ta-da...I'm ready!

My dad made me an adjustable hinged drafting table which I use to keep my neck problems at bay. And I use an egg timer to make me get up from my desk every hour.

I've used this same plastic palette since 7th grade. And I use my Grandma's old paint brushes for painting with ink.

I went through a lot of blue pencils.

The mammoth pile of 192 pages occupied one side of my sofa like my roommate. Or a 7 month houseguest.

Besides my book for company, I have Creepy Squirrel Baby to talk to. I expect that this obvious hunger for companionship properly explains why I'm on FACEBOOK so very much.

I've kept myself sane by keeping my ears occupied. I've plowed through tons of music, podcasts (Mostly This American Life & Stuff You Should Know), many audiobooks (including all 7 Harry Potter books...TWICE), and live radio. However, my main audio-companion has been John Richards on KEXP. I listen to his show every single weekday morning.

I take breaks in the afternoon to ride my bike around Prospect Park, which is only 2 blocks away.

Or I'd bike over to the studio for the afternoon to work around my studiomates in Outpost 51.

I'd flatten the pages I made each day under a big pile of books sitting on the floor of my room. Fancy.

While inking my book, I decided I couldn't draw hands. So each morning I'd erase all the hands that I was supposed to ink that day and I'd redraw them, usually using photo reference. Hence I have hundreds of photos on my computer of my hands! This is my favorite one.