the exploration issue: exploration illustrations mystery path comic
#1 FREE! take one!
31 bumps in the night make your own sushi fanart
interview with
adriana blake,
storyboard artist!
Zine copyright © 2013 by The Seneca Collective. All art and characters contained within are ™ and copyright © 2013 by their respective creators. All rights reserved. The Seneca Collective is registered with the SSF as a club but is not directly affiliated with Seneca College itself. The Seneca Collective logo designed by Amanda Sandland. Cover illustrations by Amanda Sandland and Adriana Blake. Editor: Amanda Sandland Assistant Editor: Tim Lai www.thesenecacollectivezine.tumblr.com E-mail: senecacollectivezine@gmail.com Twitter: @TSCzine
Contents Contributors..................................................2 Welcome to The Seneca Collective!.............3 Exploration Illustration.................................4 Exploration Fanart......................................15 Exploration Comics.....................................17 Illustration Showcase..................................32 31 Bumps In The Night...............................36 Ever Wanted to Make Your Own Sushi?........49 The Adriana Blake Interview.......................51
Contributors Amanda Sandland Founding Editor
Website: www.sssandland.tumblr.com
Tim Lai
Assistant Editor Websites: www.timlai.brushd.com, www.lemon-inc.com, www.timlai.tumblr.com Twitter: @timrlai
Armin Karimloo Coordinator
He’s just Armin!! What more do you need?
Ashley Dadoun
contributing artist Website: www.ashdoun.tumblr.com Twitter: @Ashdune
Ashley Toledano contributing artist Website: www.ashtoledo.com Twitter: @AshToledo1
Christopher Lai contributing artist
Website: www.christopher-lai.tumblr.com
Gordon Janikowski contributing artist
Website: www.gordomuro.deviantart.com
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Welcome to The Seneca Collective! Welcome to the very first issue of The Seneca Collective, a bimonthly illustration zine. This is a new undertaking of the School of Communication Arts and Animation students of Seneca College, to spread the visual arts student’s work around campus, as well as the Toronto area. Also because making art, comics and illustrations is rad as heck, right? There will be several artists on board, and preferably, as many as we can take! So, if you attend Seneca College for visual arts and would like to submit to our zine, feel free to submit to the next issue. Here’s what you need to know to submit: • Submissions are only open to those who are currently attending or have previously attended Seneca college! • Submissions will be printed as BLACK/WHITE/GRAYSCALE because colour printing is insanely expensive! Please keep this in mind for your submissions! In some instances we may accept submissions with VERY LIMITED colour. Please consult us about this. • Submissions must fit within a 5.5” by 8.5” page (double paged spreads are allowed, just make it 8.5” by 11”). • Submissions must be submitted as JPEGs or TIFFs and be AT LEAST 300 DPI; 600 DPI is preferred. • When you submit any sort of submission, we’d love it if you include a little doodled self-portrait for the contributors page. Grayscale photos are also acceptable for the contributors page. • NO EXPLICIT PORNOGRAPHY (some nudity is fine), EXTREME GORE, EXCESSIVE SWEARING (just bleep it out!) OR HATESPEECH IS TOLERATED. • Please try and avoid all copyrighted media! We’d really like to not get sued! Any copyrighted media included in submissions will be denied. This does NOT include fanart. You can submit that. Just don’t submit other people’s work. • E-mail all submissions to SenecaCollectiveZine@gmail.com, or visit TheSenecaCollectiveZine.tumblr.com and use the submission form. • Each contributor will receive ten copies of the zine to distribute however they’d like! We’ll have to be able to give it to you at the school, however; we will not be sending out copies in the mail, as that’s rather expensive. If you cannot receive your copy for whatever reason, we’re also putting together PDF versions of the zine, so we can e-mail you one! -Amanda Sandland & Tim Lai, Editors
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Exploration Illustrations Every issue The Seneca Collective will have a loose theme which will be used by the artists as inspiration for their illustrations. These themes will be simple words or ideas. The theme for our first issue is EXPLORATION. This theme may be interpreted in any way which the artists choose.
Artists: Pages 5 to 7 by Amanda Sandland Page 8 by Gordon Janikowski Page 9 by Ashley Dadoun Page 10 to 11 by Tim Lai Pages 12 to 14 by Armin Karimloo 4
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Exploration Fanart Pop culture is filled with famous explorers. Our artists decided to illustrate some of their favourites.
Artists: Page 16 by Amanda Sandland Page 17 by Tim Lai
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Exploration comics Every issue The Seneca Collective will have a loose theme which will be used by the artists as inspiration for their comics. These themes will be simple words or ideas. The theme for our first issue is EXPLORATION. This theme may be interpreted in any way which the artists choose.
Artists: Pages 19 to 23 by Tim Lai Pages 24 to 29 by Chris Lai Page 30 by Amanda Sandland Page 31 by Ashley Toledano
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illustration showcase A showcase of illustrations by Seneca students and alumni that feature a variety of themes and mediums.
Artists: Page 33 by Tim Lai Page 34 by Ashley Toledano Page 35 by Amanda Sandland
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I decided to take part in Inktober this year. Inktober is a challenge created by artist Jake Parker (Missile Mouse, www.mrjakeparker.com) that involves creating 31 ink drawings over the month of October. Seeing as Halloween is the ultimate end to October, and I consider October in general to be a great month of shedding leaves and a build up to the season of ghouls and ghosts, I decided to ink 31 ghosts, ghouls and monsters for my Inktober! Here you can see the first 10 monsters in my spooky series. Check back next issue for more illustrations in this series! -Christopher Lai
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The Adriana Blake Interview edited by Tim lai
Every issue The Seneca Collective will interview a professional artist about what it’s like to work in the visual arts industry. Our first interview is with Adriana Blake a local Toronto based animator, storyboard artist, cartoonist, and illustrator. Visit her website and portfolio at www.littleteacup.net. Adriana Blake is also the author of the online comic strip Fall On Me, which can be read in English at www.littleteacup.net/fallonme and in Spanish under the title Cuenta Conmigo at www.littleteacup.net/ cuentaconmigo. The Seneca Collective: Could you provide a brief overview of your career so far? What area(s) of visual art have you been involved in? Animation, illustration, comics, graphic design, etc? Adriana Blake: I graduated in 2005 from Sheridan’s last 3-year animation diploma program, and since then I have been working in the animation industry on and off. On the side I have also worked on comics, individual commissions and the occasional logo design. TSC: Do you make a living off of your art? If so, what areas of your art do you make your living from? AB: I have been able to make a living through various contracts in the animation industry, which doesn’t always require me to produce my own art. Either way, it’s an art-related career, so I can’t complain! So far I have worked as a storyboard artist, storyboard revisionist, animator, scene planner and designer. TSC: Could you name some of the clients or studios which you have worked for?
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AB: Sure! My first studio work ever was at Stone Soup (located in Houston, Texas), for which I did some commercial work and helped produce a short animated film. Since then my studio jobs have involved Chocolate Liberation Front (Wild Kratts website), 9Story Entertainment (Pound Puppies, Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood), and Cookie Jar/DHX Media (Johnny Test, Season 6), among others. TSC: You mentioned that you graduated from Sheridan’s Classical Animation program. What advice can you give to students to make their time at Seneca successful? AB: Learn as much as you can, and keep in touch with your current teachers and classmates!! After graduation they will be your biggest networking source, as well as support, encouragement and overall comradeship. The animation industry relies very heavily of team work, so getting along with others and keeping in touch is super important. TSC: How did you get your first job in your field? AB: I just sent my portfolio and demo reel to various animation studios until one called me in for an interview.
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TSC: What advice can you give to visual arts students about how to get work in the industry? AB: Be persistent! It of course helps to be as good as you can at what you do, but many times people don’t get jobs simply because they’re the best at something, but because they come about at the right place and the right time. So don’t be afraid to knock on doors!! Even to studios who don’t say anything about hiring. Once a month send them an updated portfolio and demo reel (if applicable), or at least an email politely reminding them that you’re interested in their studio, and don’t give up!! Once a job position comes up, if you’ve been in their radar recently, it’s likely they’ll think of you and consider you for the position. Don’t be afraid to contact studios you wouldn’t think of contacting; you never know which one may give you your first break! Also: online presence and social media in this day and age is very important!! Maintain a website or professional art blog as up to date as you can, and make yourself a regular on Twitter, Facebook, etc. among other artists and animators. I’ve gotten most of my jobs that way.
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TSC: Have you been published by a book or comic book publisher or in a periodical? If so, how did you form a relationship with that publisher and what advice would you give to someone who is trying to get their work published? AB: Yes! My webcomic Fall on Me was recently picked up by a local newspaper supplement called The Funnies, out in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The publishers were the ones who approached me and offered to print my work, so I don’t have advice on how to reach out to periodicals. Other than that, I have some comic work in the Womanthology: Heroic book (by IDW Publishing) and the upcoming Princeless: Tales of the Family Ashe anthology coming up on July of 2013 (by Action Lab Comics). For Womanthology and Princeless, I actually got the work via Twitter, believe it or not. When both projects were announced and they were looking for people, I replied as soon as I could and linked to samples of my work, which eventually helped in getting me selected for the jobs. TSC: You have self-published printed editions of your webcomic, Fall On Me through Lulu (www.lulu.com). Do you have any advice for someone who is thinking about self-publishing their own work? Would you recommend Lulu as a printing service? AB: For self-publishing, you can do it two ways: do a print run of a few hundred books and sell them as you go (online and/or at shows), or else set yourself up for Print on Demand, which is what Lulu offers. Both ways have their pros and cons, but for me Print on Demand made sense at first when I didn’t have an idea of how many books I would be selling (if any), and I didn’t want to make a large monetary investment that could potentially end up gathering dust in the basement. Print on the Demand in that sense is pretty risk-free, but it can also be a more expensive per book, meaning you don’t make that big of a profit. While Lulu has been good to me in terms of quality, delivery and customer service, their pricing recently went up enough that it’s no
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longer profitable to print my books through them. So, I’m currently considering finding another printing solution...I’ll keep you posted on how that goes! But overall, Print on Demand (not through Lulu necessarily) can be a good risk-free place to get started with self-publishing. TSC: What is an average workday like for you? AB: It varies from contract to contract, but I’ll show you this in case it helps (during this year’s Hourly Comic Day comic I went over my day at work): http://adrianalikestea.tumblr.com/post/42098323537/ my-hourly-comic-day-contribution-my-first-one
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TSC: Could you describe your workspace? Do you work from home or in a studio environment? AB: When I work in-studio, it’s mainly just a computer desk with either an Intuos tablet or Cintiq to work with. At home I have a computer desk set up with a Cintiq 21UX, a printer, A3 scanner (11.7” x 16.5”), and a drafting table with an animation disc and LED lighting installed...it was restored by my husband :) TSC: What materials do you use? Do you work traditionally, digitally, or both? Are there any materials or software programs that you would recommend or any that you avoid using? AB: For the industry I work 100% digitally, but for myself (namely my webcomic Fall on Me) I work both traditionally and digitally. I draw and ink my work with good ol’ pencil, paper and ink pens, then scan it in and finish it up in Photoshop. Photoshop is my default art program for a lot of things, but I also like Sketchbook Pro for drawing: its brushes are really nice. I haven’t tried Manga Stu-
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dio yet, but I hear it’s really good for digital inking. TSC: I can confirm that Manga Studio is amazing for digital inking and comics. AB: For in-studio jobs I’ve worked mostly with Photoshop, Flash, After Effects, Premiere and Sketchbook Pro. Haven’t had the chance to work with Harmony or Storyboard Pro yet, but those two are also pretty common in a studio environment...and that’s not even mentioning 3D programs. As to what art materials to “avoid”...I can’t think of anything. Every artist is different and everyone is welcome to explore and experiment with different media, so go nuts!! TSC: You use a lot of social networking sites such as Twitter and Tumblr to promote your work. Which websites or services do you personally find to be the most effective for promotion and why?
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AB: I think they’re both equally effective! Any prominent social networking platform where you can share your work and a bit of yourself is a plus, as far as I’m concerned. By the way, if anyone’s interested in following my work, comic updates and ramblings, you can find me here: www.facebook.com/fallonmecomic on Facebook, @adrianalikestea on Twitter, and www.adrianalikestea.tumblr.com on Tumblr. TSC: I became familiar with your work by seeing you exhibiting at various local comic conventions and festivals such as Kazoo Fest, TCAF and ConBravo. Have you exhibited at any other types of events? Which of the events that you have been to have been the most successful, professionally and personally? AB: TCAF and ConBravo have been by far my best shows to date. I have tried out FanExpo and Wizard Comic Con, but I find those shows to be more fandom driven and not so much about indie work like mine, which I’d rather have as the main focus of my con table. They’re fun shows to attend, but I probably wouldn’t go again as an exhibitor. This year I’m lined up to exhibit at Small Press Expo, out in Bethesda, Maryland! I’ve heard nothing but good things about it, so I’m looking forward to exhibit there for the first time. TSC: Who are your favourite artists? Is there anyone who you feel that visual art students need to know about? AB: I’d say the more art and the more variety you look at, the better! Among my favourite artists I have Adoradora (www.tanglefootcomic.tumblr.com), Kit Season (www.kitseaton.com), Pascal Campion (www.pascalcampion.com), Manu Arenas (www.yacinfields.blogspot.ca), Tracy Butler (www.lackadaisycats.com), Sean “Cheeks” Galloway (www.cheeks74.tumblr.com), Katie Shanahan (www.ktshy.com), Kei Acedera (www.imaginismstudios.com), Eren Blanquet Unten (www.erenblanquet.blogspot.ca), Robin Joseph (www.patchoforange.com/blog), and many many others!!
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TSC: Do you have any skills that are unrelated to art that have helped your career as an artist? AB: I love to read, and I love good storytelling...so maybe that? I find it keeps my mind sharp and always on the lookout on how to tell stories better visually. It’s a constant learning experience, of course...I’m far from being good at it. But I try. TSC: Are there any art related or non-art related skills that you wish you had? AB: I wish I were better at singing or dancing...I also wish I could play an instrument! Also, I wish I were good at one sport or activity...not sure what. TSC: What has been the most challenging aspect of your career so far and what have you done to overcome it? AB: I’d say unemployment and job hunting, especially at the very beginning. I had to constantly fight my demons of self-doubt and “you’re not good enough,” plus having to constantly try to prove myself to every potential employer. It can be very draining. I have now learned that, while skill is important, it’s also about being at the right place at the right time sometimes...you can be the best at what you do and still not get work, just because studios aren’t looking for your skill set at a given time. It happens. The industry goes through its periods of feast or famine, and that’s just how it is. So be aware: this career will keep you on your toes. I wish someone would have told me this back in school... TSC: Where do you see your career going in the next five years? Ten years? AB: No idea! Hopefully I’ll keep myself active art-wise for many more years to come! Can’t tell what it’ll be like, though. I’ll just keep playing it by ear.
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TSC: Do you have any other general advice for visual arts students? AB: Work hard, try to find your own voice in your artwork, but also learn to be flexible and versatile...it will help you land jobs. Never be afraid to push yourself and to learn new things. Oh, and try your best to enjoy the ride! :) TSC: Do you have anything that you would like to promote? AB: If anyone’s interested, I would like to invite you to read my webcomic, Fall on Me (www.littleteacup.net/fallonme): it’s an autobio strip that chronicles silly moments in married life. I have it available in English and in Spanish under the title Cuenta Conmigo (www. littleteacup.net/cuentaconmigo). Thank you! :)
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Well, that’s the end of this issue. Look for issue #2 in January 2014! For information on submitting to the next zine go to: www.TheSenecaCollectiveZine.tumblr.com
A bimonthly collection of Seneca College’s finest illustrations, comics, doodles and much, much more. Want to contribute? For more information, visit us online at: www.TheSenecaCollectiveZine.tumblr.com E-mail us at: SenecaCollectiveZine@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter at: @TSCzine