Express on Smudge

D.C. comic books get a nudge at Smudge

By Tim Regan

For indie publishers and small-press cartoonists who don’t have Marvel levels of fame, finding an audience can be tricky. Luckily, Smudge Expo is here to help.

Click here to read the article online.

 

The Artisphere also placed an ad in today's Express featuring Smudge.

 

 

Finally, here's a wrap up of the ads Smudge ran

online over the past few weeks to promote the show.

 

 

 

 

Smudge Comics Arts Expo program

The program for the Smudge Comics Arts Expo March 14 at Artisphere in Arlington, Va., will include exhibitors, presentations, Q&As, cartoons, documentaries and workshops! Click here to check out what's scheduled from noon to 6 p.m. It will have something for everyone: Parents, kids, hipsters, nerds, teachers, reform school graduates, you name it! Below is a sample illustration by Jade Feng Lee, who is tabling at the show and will run a workshop on character design starting at 1 p.m.

The Comic Age on Smudge

Local comics blog The Comic Age has some nice things to say about this past Saturday's Smudge Comics Arts Expo.

[Smudge! Expo 2014] A Great New Event! Plus We Were Pirates, and Dear Mr. Watterson
By Alex Lupp
Yesterday I attended the very first Smudge! Expo, and I hope that it will be the first of many. It was a lovely and very creator focused show, the kind we need more of, especially as the big conventions grow into larger and larger media spectacles....I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience, and only wish it had lasted longer than just a single day – an in depth description of my day-long venture follows below. [Read more]

 Cartoonist Ben Hatke at Smudge (photo courtesy of Bruce Guthrie)

'Dear Mr. Watterson' at Artisphere on March 8

Artisphere is Rosslyn, Va., will show "Dear Mr. Watterson: An Exploration of Calvin & Hobbes" on March 8 at 7:30 p.m. ($8 tickets), plus a live music introduction by We Were Pirates (the D.C.-based musicians who composed/performed the film’s original score) and post-screening Q&A with Mike Boggs and Nevin Martell.

March 8 also is the day the inaugural Smudge Indie Comic Expo is being held at the Artisphere from noon to 6. So make it a special full day of comics!

'The Adventures of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer'

Coming to the Artisphere in Arlington, Va., Feb. 6-9.

Deadline extension for Smudge

The Smudge Comics Arts Expo set for March 8 at Artisphere in Arlington, Va., is extending the deadline for exhibitor applications to Friday, Jan. 17. 

Ben Hatke special guest at Smudge!

Ben Hatke, creator of Zita the Spacegirl, Legends of Zita the Spacegirl and the upcoming The Return of Zita the Spacegirl, will be the special guest at the inaugural Smudge! Comics Arts Expo on March 8 at Artisphere in Arlington, Va.

Smudge! Expo 2014 Exhibitor Application

Smudge! Expo 2014 Exhibitor Application

https://smudgexpo.wufoo.com/forms/smudge-expo-2014-exhibitor-application/

The Smudge! Expo is taking place on Saturday, March 8, 2014, from noon to 6 p.m. at Artisphere in Arlington, Va. Smudge is a new comics arts expo meant to showcase independent comics and inspire attendees to become storytellers themselves. Smudge will feature exhibitors in the Artisphere Ballroom, presenters in the Black Box Theater and hands-on workshops in the classroom. While the Artisphere Town Hall bar will be open, the event is family friendly and will have plenty of activities for kids, such as drawing and making pin buttons. (Exhibitors will also be designated if their table is all-age appropriate.)

Smudge is a curated show. About 45 exhibitors will be selected to display and sell their work. The fee to exhibit is $55 for space which will include a 6-foot table and 2 chairs (provided by the venue). Exhibitors will be expected to help promote the show via social media.

To apply, fill out the form on the website and submit it by January 15. Selected exhibitors will be notified by January 20. (Payment must be made by January 25 to secure the spot.)

We hope to have a nice mix of comics arts-related exhibitors (minicomics, graphic novels, web comics, editorial cartoonists, print makers, publishers, etc.).

Smudge is the brainchild of local comic booker Matt Dembicki and event manager Tina Henry. Smudge's venue sponsor is the amazing Artisphere in Arlington, Va.

If you have questions, please email smudgexpo@gmail.com.

Shop at GRUMP on Dec. 7

The GRUMP Arts & Crafts Show is this coming Saturday at Artisphere in Arlington, Va., from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. About 40 vendors will be selling wares from kids clothing made from vintage t-shirts to plush anteaters and clever holiday cards. Matt Dembicki (that's me!) will be there selling his comics (District Comics, They Came to See Me Die!, The Brewmaster's Castle, etc.). There will be a DJ and a bar. Artisphere is just 2 blocks from the Rosslyn Metro stop.

October owl

Cartoonist Andrew Cohen is back to occasionally drawing some feathered friends. His most recent post on his blog is a dark-eyed owl, just in time for Halloween. BTW, Andrew will be at the Artisphere this Thursday as the final artist in resident for the Comics Making Workshop/Magic Bullet exhibit in the Works in Progress Gallery.

Courtesy of Andrew Cohen

'Magic Bullet' thank-you card

The D.C. Conspiracy mails thank-you cards to folks who advertise its semi-annual Magic Bullet comics newspapers. For the current issue, MB #7--which has a Halloween theme--local cartoonist Matt Rawson did a Halloween illustration for the thank-you card. (It is loosely based on the Universal monsters chalk wall drawing he did this fall at Artisphere in Arlington, Va., as part of the D.C. Conspiracy's Comic Making Workshop and MB exhibit, which ends next weekend).

Courtesy of Matt Rawson and Joe Carabeo (photo)

Oct. 24, 26: Warrenfeltz at Artisphere

Cartoonist Jacob Warrenfeltz is this week's resident artist at the D.C. Conspiracy's Comics Making Workshop at the Artisphere in Rosslyn, Va. He will be at the Works In Progress Gallery Oct. 24 from about 6:30-9:30 p.m. and on Oct. 26 from 1-4 p.m. Jake is a regular contributor to the Magic Bullet comics newspaper and is currently working on his self-published comic Villains Galore.

Oct. 17, 19: Hondros at Artisphere

Cartoonist Art Hondros is this week's resident artist at the D.C. Conspiracy's Comics Making Workshop at the Artisphere in Rosslyn, Va. He will be at the Works In Progress Gallery Oct. 17 from about 6:30-9:30 p.m. and on Oct. 19 from 1-4 p.m. Art has had a hot year, having self-published several comics, contributed a comic to the Washington Post Magazine, illustrated the cover to Magic Bullet #6 and most recently started working with former local cartoonist Scott Mills on an online comic about Ivan the Terrible.

A page from Hondros' Song of Sandy Hook

Oct. 11, 12: MacAuley at Artisphere

Christiann MacAuley is the resident artist today (6-8 p.m.) and tomorrow (from 1-4 p.m.) at the Artisphere (Rosslyn, Va.) for the D.C. Conspiracy's Comics Making Workshop. She plans to post a few pics of her chalk wall drawing in progress on Twitter. Meanwhile, check out Christiann’s new installment of her web comic Sticky Comics.

Noguchi at Artisphere on Oct. 3 and 5

Cartoonist Jamie Noguchi will be the artist in resident tomorrow at the Artisphere in Arlington, Va., as part of the D.C. Conspiracy’s Comics Making Workshop in the Works in Progress Gallery. Jamie will be there from about 6:30-9ish p.m. (depending on how long it takes him to finish his chalkwall drawing, which each resident artist has done each week). Jamie will also be there on Saturday from 1-4 p.m. Below is a recent episode of his online comic Yellow Peril.

Courtesy of Jamie Noguchi

Fantastic Forum on DC Conspiracy's exhibit at Artisphere

DC Conspiracy Comics Making Workshop at Artisphere
Ulysses Campbell
Fantastic Forum· Sep 28, 2013
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWQS6Ax7n8E&feature=youtu.be

Matt Dembicki, Evan Keeling, Eric Gordon and Jake Warrenfeltz of TheD.C. Conspiracy talk about the group during the artists' reception for its Comics Making Workshop at Artisphere in Arlington, VA.

Darn, I'm sorry I missed this. September is just too busy in DC.

Matt Rawson drawing at Artisphere for 1 more hour tonight

Here's Matt doing chalk sketches of three silent movie monsters. He'll be there until 9:30 tonight.

More pictures of the exhibit are here.

Poster for 'Magic Bullet' exhibit at Artisphere

Here's Evan Keeling's awesome poster for the upcoming 'Magic Bullet' exhibit/comics-making studio at the Artisphere Aug. 21-Nov. 3.

Aug 21-Nov 3: DC Conspiracy at Arlington's Artisphere

COMICS MAKING STUDIO WITH MEMBERS OF THE D.C. CONSPIRACY

Meet and Greet: Sat Sep 21, 6-8pm
ON VIEW WED AUG 21 – SUN NOV 3
FREE
Works in Progress Gallery

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Meet and Greet with Artists: Sat Sep 21, 6-8pm

Members of the D.C. Conspiracy (DCC), a comics-creating collaborative, will be working on actual page submissions for the Spring 2014 edition of Magic Bullet, a free, semi-annual comics newspaper. The artists will have onsite working hours so you can watch them draw and see the magic unfold. There will be "blank" comic pages available so you can make a comic and leave it behind as part of the exhibition.

Artists' onsite residency hours:
Thursdays 6:30-9:30pm + Saturdays 1-4pm (+ Wednesday September 18)

Residency Dates:
Thu Aug 22 & Sat Aug 24: Matt Rawson
Thu Aug 29 & Sat Aug 31: Matt Dembicki
Thu Sep 5 & Sat Sep 7: Rafer Roberts
Thu Sep 12 & Sat Sep 14: Steve Loya
Wed Sep 18 & Sat Sep 21: Evan Keeling*
Thu Sep 26-Sat Sep 28: Eric Gordon
Thu Oct 3-Sat Oct 5: Jamie Noguchi
Thu Oct 10-Sat Oct 12: Christiann MacAuley
Thu Oct 17- Sat Oct 19: Art Hondros
Thu Oct 24- Sat Oct 26: Jacob Warrenfeltz
Thu Oct 31- Sat Nov 2: Andrew Cohen
*Please note that Evan Keeling will be on-site on Wed Sep 18 instead of Thu Sep 19.