Month: January 2023

1st MSCA Drink-N-Draw and Sketchy Saturday Events Draw To A Close

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Well. gang- our first MSCA Drink-N-Draw and Sketchy Saturday events were a success, and a whole lot of fun!

Back in the day, several of us MSCA’ers would get together at Bookstar, Adam Shaw’s studio, Michaels, and other locations to draw together. It was usually on a weekend morning or an evening during the week. Other than our montly dinner meetings, in the last few years we had kind of gotten away from those gatherings, and the pandemic put a hold on all in-person meet-ups and forced us to try to keep in touch through social media and Zoom calls. Finally in 2022 we were able to start meeting back at Garibaldi’s Pizza for our 35th anniversary year, and we’ve started off 2023 by meeting at 901 Comics East.

On Wednesday, January 18th we held our first Drink-N-Draw, and on Saturday, January 28th we got together for our first Sat-Art-Day at 901- Sketchy Saturday.

For the Drink-N-Draw, I stayed after work and got the gallery room at the back of the comic shop set up with art supplies including sketchcard blanks, Bristol paper, and a variety of pencils, pens, markers, and more for attending artists to use and experiment with.

Unfortunately, about 10- 15min before we got started a severe thunderstorm moved in and the lights started to flicker. 5min before the event the power went out and stayed out..!

Luckily we had several light sources and other devices with us, so between them and the emergency lights we were able to have the event happen- even in the darkened shop.

It was a bit tricky, but we were all already there, and it was stormy outide, so we made the best of it.

901 Comics East’s “bar with no name” serves not only domestic and local beers in cans and on tap, but sodas, bottled water, personal pizzas, and snacks as well. Since the power was out, we had to pass on the pizza.

And of course, just as we were wrapping up…the power came back on! Seriously, about 5min after we started packing up for the night.

Thankfully we didn’t have any power outage issues for the Sketchy Saturday event today, and only some light rain!

This was another chance for local artists to get together, draw, share tips/techniques, exchange thoughts on the comic industry, give others a heads up on upcoming events, try different art materials, but most importantly meet others in our area who draw funny, too!

Again, we had a great turnout for this Sat-Art-Day. By my count we had 10 (plus me) today, and about 8 total on Wednesday for the Drink-N-Draw. Definitely a great mix of new folks and longtime MSCA members. Honestly, it almost became standing room only!

There were enough seats for everyone to sit and work, but next time we may have to spill out into the gaming area as well.

I was able to finish the Beeker sketchcard I started on the Drink-N-Draw night and get another one with the Sweedish Chef started today.

A new artist in town, Eman Casallos, actually knocked out all four of these while he was there, and he even showed up a bit late..! He recently moved to Memphis from the Phillipines and is a freelance comic artist who has worked for Dynamite. This guy is talented and FAST!

Artist Jake Bostain was another artist attendee, and that’s his comic above. Jason Negan brought his clip on light just in case..!

Artist/art teacher Katie Jones used some paint pens on stretched canvases for an upcoming charity art show.

Everyone was asking when we were going to be doing this again. I honestly only expected maybe a couple artists, but obviously I was wrong and folks are interested in getting together to draw like this.

We’ll definitely be scheduling more events like these at 901 Comics East. “Stay Tooned!”✏️🍺

Our next event is our monthly dinner meet-up at Garibaldi’s Pizza on Walker Ave. near the U of M and Tiger Bookstore. We’ll be there on Tuesday, February 7th, from 6-8pm. Like the events at 901 Comics East, the meeting is free to attend and open to the public.

Just bring a few bucks to order off the menu if you’d like to enjoy some pizza, pasta, sandwich, salad, or beverage.  We get together to talk toons and draw funny, so feel free to bring along a sketchbook, pick up a blank sketchcard, or even snag a napkin to draw on. We also usually have some freebies for folks to take home.

We’ll have some art show promos to hand out to anyone who’d like some to help spread the word about our upcoming art show “Spamalittle: Knights Of The Drawing Table” at Germantown Community Theatre. The deadline for turning in art for this show will be at this dinner meeting since we will be hanging the show before the next meet-up. Just see MSCA president Kevin L. Williams to hand off your art for the show in March. You can also email Kev at midsouthcartoonists(at)gmail(dot)com to join our mailing list and stay informed on all our event and member news such as the opening reception for this Monty Python inspired art show, future Sat-Art-Days, and upcoming conventions and Free Comic Book Day (Saturday, May 6, 2023).

Thanks to 901 Comics East for hosting our two latest events, thanks to everyone who attended, and thanks to Vicky Neyman for getting us all the extra art supplies. They definitely came in handy and will be used for future MSCA events! If you have an idea for an event let us know.

Oh, and don’t forget that 901 Comics (East and Midtown) sells several locally created comics, including some by our own MSCA members.

Lin

901 Comics East
8551 Macon Rd, Cordova, TN 38018

(901) 249-7959
www.901-comics.business.site
On Facebook – 901 Comics East/901 Games East

Sketchy Details On Upcoming MSCA Events This Week

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If you’re free this Sunday, January 15th from 4:30 – 6 pm, go visit the MLK Day Celebration at the Withers Collection Museum and Gallery, 333 Beale Street, Memphis, TN 38103.

MSCA member Devin Hodges will be present with his comic book The Common Days of Cade!

He’ll also be set up and selling comics, zines, and prints at the Corinth Comic Con on Saturday, January 21st. The one day show will be held at the Crossroads Arena (2800 S Harper Rd.) in Corinth, MS

You can find out more about Devin and his comic on his stie at www.diastcartoons.com.

You can also find his comic for sale along with other locally created books at Comics and Collectibles on Poplar (near Colonial) and 901 Comics East on Macon Road out in Cordova.

And speaking of locally created and 901 Comics East, my hand-drawn sketchcards are now also for sale there- 551 Macon Rd, Cordova, TN 38018.

I have official artist returns for $100.00ea, and personal sketchcards drawn on my own custom blanks for $35.00ea. I’ll be adding more sketchcards and sketchcovers to the ones at 901 and The Cellar (in Bartlett) soon.

This Wednesday (Jan.18) the MSCA will be holding our first official Drink-N-Draw at 901 Comics East. It’s exactly what it sounds like- we’ll be drinking and drawing from 6-8pm at the Cordova location. 901 has a bar and gaming area and offers domestic and local beers on tap and in cans.

If you don’t drink beer, Lil’ Sweet says there are sodas, water, and some individual pizzas and snack items as well. So bring your art supplies and a few bucks to order something to drink/eat while you draw.

Later this month on Saturday, January 28ththe MSCA will be hosting our first “Sketchy Saturday” at 901 Comics East from 10am until 2pm. It’s going to be a free hands-on workshop that will focus on drawing on sketchcards, sketchcovers, and in sketchbooks. I’ll have some free MSCA sketchcard blanks to hand out, and lots of art supplies on hand for attendees to use and experiment with.

If you’re looking for art classes, the Wades and Team Toshigawa have The Comic Studio which are art classes with a comic book twist. The classes cover everything from photoshop techniques, to illustration techniques, to writing all from the perspective of comic book, manga and graphic design creation.

The Comic Studio meets virtually twice a week (Wednesdays at 12:00 noon and Thursdays at 5:00pm), and are for children ages 8-15. Look for more class times to be added soon. Know a child interested in manga and comic book illustration? Get them to the Comic Studio!

You can join The Comic Studio by clicking here!

Hope you can make it out to one or all our upcoming events!

Lin

MSCA January Happenings – 2023

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Well, after 35 years of drawing funny in the mid-south, we’re ready to do it some more next year!

MSCA MONTHLY DINNER MEET-UP AT GARIBALDI’S PIZZA

Our 35th anniversary year was packed with MSCA and member events (art shows, library display, dinners, etc.) and we started off the new year right with our first dinner meet up of 2023 onTuesday, January 3rd from 6-8pm at Garibaldi’s Pizza’s U of M location. It’s just off Walker near the Highland Strip and Southern, and across from the Tiger Book Store. We had another great turnout for this month’s dinner.

The dinner meetings are always free and open to the public, but you may want to bring a few extra bucks to order something off the menu to eat and/or drink. If you have kids who are interested in cartooning, if you are a kid and want to learn from some comics professionals, or are just a kid at heart and love cartooning then stop on by. FREE parking!

Be sure to bring a parent and/or a friend along, too. We don’t teach classes at the dinners (that’s a separate event), but we do freely share tips, tricks, techniques, and sources. (Be sure to check out our links page for more helpful info!)

Also, if you attend be sure to bring some of your latest work to show around (sketchbooks, portfolios, works in progress, printed pieces, etc.) and don’t be afraid to show them to members, or share any promos you may have to hand out. We usually have a freebie table for those items so feel free to add to them or pick up some to take home.

Don’t forget to bring something to draw with, or be shy to ask to borrow a pen or pencil. Spontaneous sketching often happens during these events, and it’s always encouraged.

It doesn’t matter what hand (or foot) you draw with, what/who you sketch, or what you doodle on – sketchbook, notebook, sketchcard, sketchcover, jam piece, or even a napkin. There’s always plenty of those around.

This month I had some of our members do sketches for the press promo pizza boxes I’m working on, so thanks to everyone who drew one for me. I’m going to be putting them together this weekend and out to the local news media soon.

Thanks to the staff at Garibaldi’s for letting us gather there each month (and the pizza boxes). It was great to finally get back to meeting in person again last year, and we look forward to being back there in the big room again throughout 2023!

Garibaldi’s Pizza
3530 Walker Ave
Memphis, TN 38111

(901) 327-6111
www.garibaldispizza.com

MSCA DRINK-N-DRAW

This month we’ll be experiencing our very first MSCA Drink-N-Draw event hosted by 901 Comics East out in Cordova on Wednesday, January 18th from 6-8pm. We’ve been known to drink and draw at our dinner meetings, and at con-related drink-n-draws, but this is officially our first! 901 Comics East now has a bar, gallery space, and gaming area. We are looking to make this a quarterly event at the friendly neighborhood comic shop.

The bar serves beer on tap and in cans- including some local brews. If you don’t drink beer, there are sodas, water, and some individual pizzas and snack items. So bring your art supplies and a few bucks to order something to drink/eat while you draw, and a designated driver. There is no theme or no real rules (other than 21 or older if you plan to drink beer), so feel free to draw or work on whatever art you’d like. ✏️🍺

901 Comics East
8551 Macon Rd, Cordova, TN 38018

(901) 249-7959
www.901-comics.business.site
On Facebook – 901 Comics East/901 Games East

Take Germantown Pkwy. to Macon (Malco and Whataburger), go about a half mile up and after the post office take the left at the 3-way stop, and then a right at the next 4-way between the school and apartments. Continue on Macon about another block or two, continuing straight after the 3-way stop at Dexter. The comic shop will be on the right in the shopping center next to the Pit Stop food truck court (the Greenline runs behind the shopping center).

There are several locally created comics for sale at 901 Comics as well!

MSCA SKETCHY SATURDAY

Later this month on Saturday, January 28th the MSCA will be hosting our first “Sketchy Saturday” at 901 Comics East from 10am until 2pm. It’s going to be a free hands-on workshop.

If anyone is interested in joining in on creating some sketchcards and sketchcovers please stop on by. I’ll have plenty of sketchcard blanks and a few sketchcover comics to share while they last, but if you need any 901 sells some blank sketchcovers, too. 

I’ll have some markers to use and extra Bristol paper to play on if anyone needs them or wants to learn how to color with markers. I’ll have a mix of Copics, Letraset, Prismacolor, and Sharpies on hand, plus some extra pencils, Pigma Micron and Gelly Roll pens, and other art supplies.

Please feel free to bring any supplies you’d like to use and/or your own sketchbook to work in. I’ll have some card sleeves for finished cards ((901 sells packs of 100), and we’ll have some art books for folks to look through for those who might need some inspiration and/or reference. We’ll be in a comic shop so that should help with getting inspiration, too!

Some of you may remember many of our members getting together at Bookstar on Poplar, Adam Shaw’s studio on Broad Ave., Michaels in Olive Branch, and other locations when we’d get together to just hang out, draw, and have fun together. If you’re not interested in drawing on sketchcards or sketchcovers, do come on by and like I said bring a sketchbook or other art project to work on with us. 

As with the drink-n-draw event, if this goes well we’ll look at doing more “Sketchy Saturday” type of events in 2023. We’d like to keep these casual and more of a social sharing of ideas and techniques than an actual art class, but if anyone would like to host/teach a class or if there is something you think would work as a project just give me (Lin Workman) or MSCA president Kevin Williams a yell- midsouthcartoonist(at)gmail(dot)com.

These gatherings are to encourage setting aside time to draw, being social/networking, and sharing ideas, news, and techniques with others. Hopefully it will give us some additional meet-up opportunities for anyone who can’t make our monthly dinner ones at Garibaldi’s. 

Kev  sends out an email reminder before events so be sure to join the mailing list. I try to post heads up online on social media and our site here, but here’s the 2023 dinner schedule if you need it.

Our podcast Drawing Funny is now in it’s third season and we’ll have a few more episodes dropping in January, including the 50th episode- “stay tooned!”

And if you’d like more info on the MSCA and/or how to become a member, either check out our ABOUT US page, shoot Kev an email, click the player above, or stop by an event and ask us in person.

I hope you can attend one or all of our 2023 events- we’d love to have you join us!
Lin

New “Drawing Funny” Podcast Episode With Info On Upcoming 2023 MSCA Events

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The first Drawing Funny episode of the new year is available for downloading.

You can listen on most podcasting platforms such as Spotify and Apple, check out the Drawing Funny website at www.drawingfunny.com, or click the player above.
(Run time 52min, 5sec)

Show notes: For the first 2023 episode of Drawing Funny I’m joined by MSCA president Kevin L. Williams (aka Soloman Blues). We took the show on the road did some recording over the weekend while in the MSCA’s secret mobile recording unit. We were on our way home from seeing the Alabama Blues Brothers perform at the Princess Theatre in Decatur, AL.

We discuss some of the Mid-South Cartoonists Association’s 35th Anniversary events that happened in 2022, some of the club’s history (founded in March, 1987). Plus we share info on upcoming events for this year including our next monthly dinner meet-up at Garibaldi’s Pizza this Tuesday (January 3rd 6-8pm), our Drink-N-Draw (Wednesday, January 18th 6-8pm) and Sketchy Saturday (January 28th 10am-2pm) at 901 Comics East, and “Spamalittle” art show at Germantown Community Theatre (March 3-19).

Garibaldi’s Pizza
3530 Walker Ave
Memphis, TN 38111
(901) 327-6111
www.garibaldispizza.com

2023 MSCA Monthly Dinner Schedule- next dinner January 3rd 6-8pm.

MSCA Drink-N-Draw (Wed. 1/18/23 – 6-8pm)

We’re going to be starting off the new year with our very first MSCA Drink-N-Draw event at 901 Comics East on Wednesday, January 18th from 6-8pm. We’ve been known to drink and draw at our dinner meetings, and at con-related drink-n-draws, but this is officially our first. 901 Comics East now has a bar, gallery space, and gaming area. We are looking to make this a quarterly event at the shop. The bar serves beer both on tap and in cans (including local brews), as well as sodas, water, and some individual pizzas and snack items. So bring your art supplies and a few bucks to order something to drink/eat while you draw. There is no theme or no real rules (other than 21 or older if you plan to drink beer), so feel free to draw or work on whatever art you’d like.

Sketchy Saturday (1/28/23 – 10am-2pm)

Saturday, January 28th the MSCA will be hosting our first “Sketchy Saturday” at 901 Comics East from 10am until 2pm. It’s going to be a free hands-on workshop for anyone interested in creating some sketchcards and sketchcovers. We’ll have plenty of sketchcard blanks and a few sketchcover comics to share (901 sells some, too), plus some markers, and extra Bristol paper to play on if anyone needs them. Please feel free to bring any supplies you’d like to use, or if you’re not interested in drawing sketchcards or sketchcovers, do come on by and bring a sketchbook to work in.

Some of you may remember many of our members getting together at Bookstar, Adam Shaw’s studio, Michaels, and other locations when we’d get together to just hang out and draw.

Like the MSCA Drink-N-Draw event (Wed.1/18, 6-8pm), if this goes well we’ll look at doing more “Sketchy Saturday” type of events in 2023. We’d like to keep these casual and more of a sharing of ideas and techniques than an actual class, but if anyone would like to host/teach a class just give me or MSCA president Kevin Williams a yell: midsouthcartoonists(at)gmail(dot)com.

These gatherings are to encourage setting aside time to draw, being social, and sharing ideas, news, and techniques with others, and give us some additional meet-ups for anyone who can’t make our monthly dinner ones at Garibaldi’s.

901 Comics East
8551 Macon Rd.
Cordova, TN 38018
www.901-comics.business.site

Just take Germantown Pkwy. to Macon Rd. (Malco and Whataburger), go about a half mile up and after the post office take the left at the 3-way stop, and then a right at the next 4-way between the school and apartments. Continue on Macon about another block or two, continuing straight after the 3-way stop at Dexter. The comic shop will be on the right in the shopping center next to the Pit Stop food truck court (Greenline runs behind the shopping center).

SPAMALOT/spamalittle (March 3-19, 2023)

Germantown Community Theatre
3037 Forest Hill Irene RD.
Germantown, TN 38138
www.gctcomeplay.org
901.453.7447

Happy New Year! Stay warm, stay dry, stay safe, stay tooned, and keep drawing funny!

Linwood