A New Year Resolution

 Happy 2016 to everyone!  Life has been marching on for me in Philadelphia.  Trying to find my bearings and settle into a new place.  I was lucky enough to take a trip back to Chicago in November which helped me feel a little more grounded.  It was also a couple weeks before my BFF Teresa celebrated the first birthday of her little dude.  I had been working on a book for him since before he was born called "Baa Baa Bennick" which I finished up for the trip.  Here are a few pics of what it turned out like:

 Right before I left for Chicago I found out I had  been accepted to table at a holiday craft fair in Philly called Go West! Fest.  I had never done a craft fair before so I tried to make some new things that would be "giftable" for the fair.  I made some postcard packs and small paintings.  It was fun to sell artwork at the fair, which other than prints, I've never done before!  Some of these that didn't sell are now up on my etsy page if you're interested.  And of course you can always email me if there's something specific you want drawn.  Here's a peek at a few of the new things I made:

I hope everyone is starting the new year off right.  My resolution this year is to just keep making things.  It's so easy to focus on money and problems but really we have to do what makes us happy and what brings satisfaction into our lives.  For me it's drawing and writing stories and characters.
Thanks to everyone who takes the time to look at my little pictures. Hearts.

Find me here:
Tumblr
Instagram
Radiator Comics
Etsy
www.leslieperrine.com

Black and White in October

It's October and finally starting to feel a little bit like fall.  I feel ready for it this year.  I am feeling a bit more settled in Philadelphia.  Doing more of my own work and trying to figure out where I'm heading and what I'm doing, which is a lot of pressure to put on yourself in a new place!  Sitting and working on a project is exactly what I needed so I decided to draw all my postcards for 31 postcards in 31 days -- an awesome project that some friends of mine started in Chicago.  I decided to also take it as a chance to practice a new medium.  I have tried pen and ink with nibs on occasion but never actually sat down and practiced.  So here are some of the results:

 

 

 

I'll actually post a few more at the end of the month when I've hopefully finished all 31 (I have 23 completed now).  

Excited to pick some apples and watch the leaves fall in a new city.  It doesn't really feel like you live somewhere for real until you see the seasons change.   

In West Philadelphia

I can't believe I haven't updated since November!  I've had some huge life changes including moving halfway across the country to Philadelphia.  Moving in support of a partner's career is always a hard move, especially as a woman I don't want to give up any of myself to be a supportive partner.  At the same time, I want to be with Andrew and I couldn't imagine being in Chicago without him.  So here I am.  A die hard Midwesterner on the East Coast.
I made a comic about moving and feeling weird:

We're actually doing pretty well though and settling in.  It helps to have friends here and be meeting new people. Everything is just so different, it's hard to wrap my brain around and also have time to process other big life things.
What else has happened in the past ten months?
I wrote a new comic!  It's a small accordion-style fold out comic about my family history.  It's called "Creatures of Love" after the Talking Heads song and is full of odd creatures all done in watercolor.

Which is available both on my etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/237161033/creatures-of-love
And at my amazing distributor Radiator Comics: https://www.radiatorcomics.com/creator/leslie-perrine/ 
 I am going to be posting things a lot more on the internet now that I'm not working full time. So hopefully I keep up with stuff here.
Love from the city of brotherly love.  

Keep Moving, Keep Warm

Welp, I heard my first Christmas song on the radio and it's consistently snowing daily, which means the time has come to actually admit winter is happening again...
In hopes of keeping spirits merry and bright I made a few sets of winter/holiday cards now available on my etsy page.  Here's what they look like:

If you're in Chicago I will be tabling with these and other prints/books/zines/goodies at the Spudnik Holiday Sale taking place Friday, December 5th from 6-10pm  at Spudnik Press!

***Also, I'm going to be doing a limited number of holiday-time commissions.  All will be square sized up to 11x11" hand inked and watercolored.  They can be of any 1-2 animals doing any 1 activity (example: a panda bear eating cereal).  Email me at leslieperrine@gmail.com by November 24th  to get your request in! All drawings will be mailed out the second week of December.  ***

I have been working on one big secret special project that's not the graphic novel I neeeeed to start drawing.  Sometimes things you love the best come as distractions to what you should be doing..

November, Forever

November has become one of my favorite months.  Not even by choice as it's the mark of winter beginning (since it snowed all day yesterday..) but because of good things in my life coming my way in November.  I love Thanksgiving--not the actual reason for the holiday but the idea behind celebrating harvest and food before the coming winter.  The last few years I've had the joy of celebrating "friendsgiving" in Chicago and it's one of my favorite nights of the year.
My niece was born in November and will be celebrating her 4th birthday this year, which is hard to believe.
I also met Andrew in November.  We'll be celebrating 2 years together, which is easy to believe.

I also love the Milwaukee Zine Fest which will be happening again this year on Nov. 8th.  I will also have some work hanging at their pop-up art fair the week before.   Opening Sunday November 2nd at Jazz Gallery, 926 East Center St.  info here: http://www.riverwestart.org/zine_week.html
These are the 3 original watercolors from a series called "Scary Things" Nightmare/Shadow/Reflection

 if you get a chance go say hi to these dudes for me.
Tonight is also fall behind!  Best night of the year, extra hour of life!

Scary Things

A couple years ago I participated in this awesome month long challenge called "31 Postcards in 31 Days"  it was super fun and I decided to do it again this October.  I upped the challenge a bit by deciding to hand draw, ink and watercolor each postcard as a drawing challenge to myself.  I also wanted them to look dark and spooky as a practice for the book I'm starting to work on.
Here's a few glimpses at some postcards that directly relate to the book:

I am pleased with the creepiness of some of them..and I think it helped a lot for what I'm trying to move forward working on.
I'm posting a postcard every day for the month of October on my Tumblr

In other scary news I'm leading a workshop for teens at the Sulzer Library this Thursday about drawing comics. Check out the CPL events here 
I'm excited to be a part of a YOUMedia workshop and also a part of One Book One Chicago which is if you don't know about is a really cool sponsored event by CPL where one book is chosen for the whole city to read and then attend events/workshops about.  This year the book is the Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Klay by Michael Chabon

Happy October!

Heart Seed

I can't believe summer is almost over.  It feeds very weird and I am in total denial that winter is coming again.  I always feel very rooted in the seasons at the end of summer though and very grateful that I live somewhere that I get to experience all the changes of the seasons.

I finished a new comic!  I'm really excited to share it with everyone.  It's called Heart Seed.  It's about settling your roots in somewhere planting seeds from the past.

I've been thinking a lot lately about settling in and how comforting it is to build a future.  With so many good friends starting families and buying homes--I'm seeing how important it is to know what you want from your future.  I'm working hard to get there. <3 p="">

One step for me towards the future is seeing myself as an artist and not waiting for others to tell me I am.  So I took a big leap and bought a fancy printer to make archival prints with.  I did a few small prints for the Grand Rapids Zine Fest and this is how they turned out:

Both of these items are up for grabs at my etsy shop or just by talking to me.  OR also exciting news!  My good pal Neil has started an incredibly awesome comics distro and is selling some of my comics as well as tons of other super amazing artists.  Check out his Radiator Comics page and order some awesome stuff!