Raina's Thing

yaytime:

Over on my AA blog, I wrote a post for struggling artists:

Before you give up…you may want to try changing it up. 

“…If we’re honest, often our lack of success is because we’re just not ready for prime time. Most cartoonists prefer to dive in first and learn our craft as we go. But what if other people don’t see our dreams the same way we do? How long do we tread water, believing in a dream if nothing ever seems to change?

There’s nothing harder than realizing our personal project just isn’t going to hit it big. In our mind, the comic we’ve been working on since art school is this generation’s Star Wars…but something is getting lost in translation. We started self-publishing to be the next Jeff Smith…but what worked for him isn’t coming together the same way for us.

So, it might be time to try a new dream that better reflects our current abilities.

Put aside the old ideas (even if just temporarily) and switch gears. Break out of our box. Shake it up.

Switch genres or art styles. Kill your darlings.

See how it feels to face the unknown of a fresh canvas.

Many of us worry that we only have one big story in us. And too often, that story is a trilogy or multi-part epic.

Or we’re attached to a single character so much, we believe it to be an extension of ourselves…”

…continued over at AstronautAcademy.com 

 

Some good words of advice from Dave!

yaytime:

Congrats to Raina on Drama hitting the #1 spot on the NY Times Bestseller list for Graphic Books! The book had to surpass multiple zombie attacks from several volumes of The Walking Dead to claim the top spot this week! :)

http://www.nytimes.com/best-sellers-books/paperback-graphic-books/list.html

Yes. This happened.  :)

tumblnpanda asked: Hi! I would just like to say that I love your work and that DRAMA is now my favourite graphic novel! I don't know who I love more... Justin or Jesse. Or Callie! I wish they were people in real life! - Tumblnpanda ^ - ^

Thank you!

Justin and Jesse are actually inspired by friends of mine! (Yep; twins.) So even though I made up the story, the friendships between the characters are very much like ones from my real life.

I spend more time on my layouts than on any other stage of making comics. If the panel composition isn’t good, everything else will fall apart. This is a blue pencil layout base on my thumbnails. Next stage is pencils, followed by inks, colors, and digital letters. #comics. #process

yaytime:

Page 26 of Astronaut Academy: Re-Entry features bears with bazooka feet & fireball fists. The page also includes a blog post where I share how I was called out by some girls for liking Care Bears so much in the 5th grade.

http://www.astronautacademy.com/comic/page-026-2/

When I was a kid, my sister had a beloved Skeletor toy, which got a very similar response from people!

yaytime:

Guys! The new Astronaut Academy webcomic site is live! I’ve basically been working on this book non-stop for two and half years, so it’s crazy to finally share it with the world. I’m SO nervous!!! Any an all forwarding of links and mentioning to friends or family is beyond appreciated. 

www.astronautacademy.com

It’s here! Go read!!

Anonymous asked: Goodness gracious You are the bomb diggity You're just too great & an incredible artist who happens to be the bestest story teller. Do you happen to have any up comming release dates for any of your upcomming books?

Thanks! The book I’m currently working on for Scholastic/Graphix will probably be published sometime in 2014. These things take time, I’m afraid.

I also have a couple of stories in anthologies that will be published before that, and I’ll let you guys know about them when I have more information!

Anonymous asked: Dear Raina, did you ever play a musical instrument ?

You might find the answer to this question in a certain orthodontic memoir graphic novel I wrote and drew… ;)

bigplanetcomics:

Raina Telgemeier drawing at our Vienna store!

shellytotter:

TAKE 2: @GORAINA’S DRAMA HOMECOMING: @BERGENSTCOMICS DEC 1, 7PM

**

It’s true! The DRAMA party got rescheduled. It’s happening on Saturday, December 1!

Anonymous asked: did you really dye your hair purple? and if so why ?

No…I’ve never dyed my hair purple. Callie from DRAMA has purple hair, but she’s not me! DRAMA is fiction. :)

Ponyo and Sosuke on Flickr.

Dave’s and my Halloween costumes from a couple of years ago. Perhaps we’ll dress this way again, as we ride out Hurricane Sandy…

Sorry for the radio silence! I’ve been traveling like crazy, going all over North America promoting DRAMA. And now I’m comin’ home! Join me next Saturday, November 3, for a DRAMA HOMECOMING PARTY in Brooklyn, 7pm at Bergen Street Comics! Kids and adults welcome.